WHAT WEAPONS CAUSED THE DEATH OF THE VICTIMS?
R. Sargsyan
Azat Artsakh Daily
07 Oct 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
Our interlocutor is VAHAGN HAROUTYUNYAN, Senior Investigator of the
Special Investigative Service
"Some people died and others were wounded by fire-arms as a result
of the March 1-2 disorders. However, it is not known up to date what
weapons caused the death of the victims. It doesn’t seem difficult for
the inquest body to find out the type of the weapons used, considering
that the bullets have been found. After all, what pistols or
self-firing guns released shots, causing the death of several people?"
"You know, the issue whether or not the process is difficult is
strictly relative, because it is a most complex technical task whose
solution can be provided by the expert examination only. In particular,
it is carried out by experts, and only they can state whether the
given bullet was released from the given gun.
By the way, an expert examination with the purpose of clearing up the
question was appointed long ago but because this is a voluminous case
and there are a lot of shells found from the scene of action that are
being compared with the bullets pulled out from the dead bodies of the
victims and generally, all the shells, bullets and fire-arms registered
in the Republican Police Shooting Range, the process takes a long time.
Let=2 0me note that according to the established rules, the data
obtained as a result of the examination of any shell, bullet and
fire-arm within the frameworks of the any criminal case (be it the
March 1 case or any other case examined 3 years ago) is sent to the
shell range.
The latter is a specific kind of storehouse or bank in which the
stored items serve as tools for expert analysis. That’s to say, with
the purpose of finding out the origin of the given weapon acquired
from unknown sources and in an illegal manner and the bullets released
from them they are compared with the items stored in the shell range."
"But are they compared with the weapons handed over to the Police?"
"Naturally, they are. Moreover, the bullets and shells are compared
not only with the arms handed over to the Police but also with the
weapons available to the police officers on the given day."
"Are there any well-grounded facts in that connection?"
"The conclusion of the expert examination isn’t available up to
date. That’s to say, the expert examination is still in process, and
no information is reported in that connection unless the examination
is over."
"And what will you say about the special means (tear gas etc.) used? Is
the expert examination concerning this particular part of the case
over?"
"No, this examination is sti ll in process too. We also have problems
in terms of the identification of the special means."