11:04, 9 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. A battalion commander is under arrest on charges of dereliction of duty concerning his actions which authorities say led to nine troops being killed, two taken captive and multiple combat positions being taken over by Azerbaijani military during 2020 December 11-12 clashes.
The battalion commander was charged with aggravated dereliction of duty back in April 2021 and investigators asked a court to remand him in pre-trial detention, but the motion was rejected. The supervising prosecutor appealed the decision to a higher court, which eventually ordered a renewed examination. Subsequently, a Yerevan court of general jurisdiction approved the pre-trial detention, the Investigative Committee said in a press release.
The officer, who was the commander of a rifle battalion, was ordered after the 2020 November 9 ceasefire to ensure the security of 12 combat positions of the eastern border of Hin Tagher, a district of the Hadrut region in Artsakh.
“However, during combat operations which took place between 2020 December 11-12, he committed actions amounting to dereliction of duty which led to grave consequences: 12 combat positions of the Hin Tagher district’s eastern border were taken over by enemy troops, the servicemen deployed in one of these combat positions were besieged, of whom nine servicemen were killed and two were taken captive,” the investigators said.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan