The court trial of military servants Razmik Sargsyan, Musa Serobyan and Arayik Zalyan, who were sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment, gradually attains great publicity. The young students and NGO representatives that gathered near the building of the Court of Appeal demand honest trial and justice. They were announcing that they didn’t want to be the next. “We know who the real criminals and their supporters are”, this is what their posters read.
Fear is tested
The lawyers declare that this case is sponsored by the government elite. Lawyers Zaruhi Postanjyan and Stepan Voskanyan say the following, “Before the first instance court trial in Syunik marz we visted Gagik Jhangiryan in Yerevan. He told us, “Who’s is the judge to announce a verdict, before the verdict I will visit Karabagh and you will present your arguments and we will present our and later we’ll decide what to do”. He visited Karabagh as agreed. We have presented our arguments and he told us, “I thought you came here to negotiate with us to relieve their punishment. Wouldn’t it better for them to confess and we will figure something out. They will go to jail and be released.” What do you want this noise to go to Yerevan? He said, “I am not scared of anything. My fear has been previously tested.” Later after our conversation we told him that Razmik Sargsyan has confessed the murder and the confession is filmed. We told him that the boy has confessed only after beating and torture. He said, “Nairi Hunanyan was also beaten. How come he didn’t confess?”
And what is the reaction of the parents and lawyers of the murdered military servants Roman Yeghiazaryan and Hovsep Mkrtumyan? Roman’s lawyer is his uncle – Artur Yeghiazaryan. His only purpose is to witness the punishment of the culprits. A Yeghiazaryan is sure that the murder was committed by the three boys. He was asked, “Are you sure that they were the culprits? What evidence do you have?” He says, “I was the one, who took the dead body out of the water reservoir. We called divers ourselves and I witnessed how the dead body was taken out from the reservoir.” I asked him, “You took the dead body out of the reservoir but can you prove that those were the guys who killed him?” He said, “Do the ones, who defend the culprits understand what it means to send you boy to the army and bury his dead body afterwards? Why do they protect the culprit, the one who’s guilty should be punished. Razmik’s confession was filmed. He said he had killed”.
You send to the army but receive the dead body
Recently we have visited the parents of the murdered Hovsep Mkrtumyan. Let’s remind that the father of the dead Movses Mkrtumyan has left the court session in surprise. He said in a very angry way, “I don’t know what’s going on here. There is a contradiction here. During filming the investigator asked Razmik whether he could describe Hovsep. He said that Hovsep was a tall guy but my son was very short, about 160 centimeters. So it turns out that Razmik killed a guy he didn’t know and didn’t see before, because my son Hovsep was very tall and would definitely differ among four others. I don’t know, wasn’t able to watch till the end.” The same was said by M. Mkrtumyan during our visit. By the way, when this man, prior to the trial, announced that the murderers of his son are the three young men people named him in different bad ways. “I know that bad things are said about me, there are rumors that I’m an alcoholic and that there is no need to believe in what I say because I drink. There are rumors that I have taken bribes don’t know from who”, tells M. Mkrtumyan in an insulted way. “I will follow the trial till the end and will express my opinion because anyone who says the truth is considered a psycho. I will not tell you exactly what I think about the real murderers of my son because they will consider me a psycho as well. I will watch the video till the end and won’t say anything. I will be silent until the judge asks me, “Do you find Razmik Sargsyan, Arayik Zalyan and Musa Serobyan guilty in your son’s murder?” I have kept silent for two years but there is a lot to say. The most important thing for me is to punish the real culprit”. The father of the murdered finds that Razmik Sargsyan is wrong because if he is innocent the trial of the Court of Appeal is his last chance and he shouldn’t miss that chance if he’s innocent. M. Mkrtumyan has also mentioned that Razmik had said contradictory things during the previous court trials and was sure that the guys are hiding something. “Honestly said, I don’t believe their strike because if he was really innocent he would have struggled.” Movses says that he doesn’t expect fair court trial. “There will be no justice as long as we have the current government, things might be different if we change this government. I don’t believe anyone, no investigator. I have been listening to different opinions over two years. I am my own investigator; I have heard and seen many things but have not expressed views. There will be time I will say my word”. We asked M. Mkrtumyan to tell about his son Hovsep. “Hovsep was a very tight guy. I taught him not to ever lie. Had a lot of success in sports. He was my youngest son and the strongest, no one could beat him. Everyone in our neighborhood knows that my sons are strong and well-bred. When I saw those three guys I told them that they couldn’t possibly harm my son because my son was very strong but if hit from behind murder was possible.” Movses’s mother doesn’t participate in the trial. She gets full of tears and is not able to speak when looking at Hovsep’s photo. She says, “What can I say, same happened to my nephew, he was sent to the army but we got his dead body soon, we were still mourning when we got Hovsep’s dead body. What can a mother a say when she sends a sportsman son to the army and knows that the son will overcome all the difficulties but she receives his dead body from the frozen water. My nephew was found dead in the cell and hung himself with his own shoelaces. Can you imagine that? It sounds ridiculously unreal. Same happened to my son”.