Yesterday the Criminal and Military Cases appeal court started legal proceedings in the first instance court of the Syunik Marz. The case was against three soldiers serving in the army (Rzmik Sargsyan, Arayik Zalyan and Musa Serobyan) who were condemned to 15 years in jail for murder. Let’s recall that on December 24, 2003, Movses Mkrtumyan and Roman Yeghiazaryan, who were soldiers serving in the army in Madaghis of the Martakert region of Karabagh, had disappeared. The military prosecutor’s office had brought up a criminal case with 15 days tardiness on January 8, 2004. On January 9, the corpses of Mkrtumyan and Yeghiazaryan were found in the well by following the traces. Four soldiers have been accused for the murder within the framework of the criminal case brought up by the military prosecutor’s office. They had testified against Commander Ivan Grigoryan, military officers Karlen Mailyan and Ruben Baghryan. After that, the four soldiers were not accused and the accusations went against the three abovementioned soldiers. With the order of military officer of the Republic of Armenia G. Jhangiryan, a new investigative group was created and the case was transferred to the Military Prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Armenia.
An attempt to kill
The accused Razmik Sargsyan (110 days), Arayik Zalyan (90 days), and Musa Serobyan (15 days), have gone out on a hunger strike. R. Sargsyan’s health is in danger and he is on the verge of dying. His mother Julieta Sargsyan claims that “Razmik announced during the first instance court hearing that he has been severely injured, he has been beaten, the testimony had been written and they had demanded to print and sign it. They had tied both of his hands, then hung him and forced him to take the blame for the murder on him after making him bleed. Razmik has resisted the pain, however, when they wanted to severely hurt him with hand weapons, he could not take it anymore and took the blame for himself.” The three soldiers were condemned to 15 years in jail based on the only self-testimony of Razmik Sargsyan. During the first instance court hearing, soldier Arman Grigoryan, who is a witness, testified that he had seen Commander Ivan Grigoryan get out of his “Niva” car and throw the corpses wrapped in a bag into the well. During the second court hearing, however, the testimony changed. Another interesting fact: there is a letter of commendation written by Defense Minister of Karabagh S. Ohanyan to military prosecutor G. Jhangiryan through which it has been commended not to bring up a criminal case against Commander Ivan Grigoryan; the letter also states that he is a hero of the Karabagh war and has felt pity for what happened. As to why he has felt pity, it is not clear.
Razmik is in psychological pain
With the purpose of checking Razmik Sargsyan’s health, the therapist from the clinic and head of department Maya Harutyunyan visited the Nubarashen police department a couple of days ago. She said the following: “First of all, when I saw the doctor’s room, I did not imagine how I could possibly make a conclusion about somebody’s health because there was practically no place to lie down or study the patient. There was a couch which was dirty and full of boxes. We cleaned it up so we could lay the young patient down and take a look at him. They showed me his medical ambulatory card. The information missing was the former weight and the registration of normal check-ups. The only thing that was stated was the blood and urine tests that were taken in September, according to which there were some salts, leucocytes, etc. There were some marks that showed that the doctors gave the patient inner vein injections of half a liter glucose dissolvent each day” Razmik used to weigh 150 pounds, but now he is 120 and that is with clothes. It was impossible to decide his height because the boy’s body was curved. Mrs. Harutyunyan claimed that the young man presented himself wearing a special medical belt in order to defend him against any pains that he may feel. “He could barely move; two people brought him holding his arms, his muscles were weak, his hypodermis was at a minimum, he was very slim, had a crooked spinal cord, had many pains and some symptoms of inflammation of the rectum nerves. I saw him like this: he could barely walk, weak, his skin color was a whitish yellowish color, he had a fever which was a sign of anemia, his mucous membrane was not too well; there was a bump on the left side of his liver which could be the result of a large quantity of glucose. One to two drops of insulin must be injected along with the glucose so that the pancreas digests the glucose and so the liver does not inflame. Razmik has not had an insulin injection. We told the doctor that he has pains and asked why he didn’t prescribe medicine. The doctor told us that a hungry person can not take medicine. We didn’t really understand that answer. Injecting glucose without even checking a person’s sugar level is not a medical approach. I saw a young man with psychological stress and physically injured and is on the verge of death.” M. Harutyunyan stated that they must cure Razmik first and then condemn him if he is guilty. “He was an injured, 18-19 year old boy who was in a psychological stress. If he has to suffer that punishment at the age and get out of here as a normal human being, then I can say that he can no longer be a normal man because the cruel way that he has been treated is the most humiliating way to be treated.”
They put on a show
The court hearing at the Criminal and Military cases appeal court restarted the court hearing yesterday. The police officers literally brought the rebel R. Sargsyan by pulling his body on the floor because he was not able to walk on his own. They seated him on the chair somehow. Razmik could not lift his head up, he opened his eyes from time to time, however, his eyelids could barely be seen. His hands got nervous frequently, his face was red and plump and the boy literally stayed spread out on the table during the three hour court hearing. He was not responding to anything, not even noise. The other two rebels were in good conditions, although they were a little weak and pale. Razik’s state of being shocked the people present in the courtroom; many were touched. The court announced Razmik’s decision to refusal to be subjected to forensic medicine and presented another document where the doctors claimed that his health was stable. Mr. Aghramanyan was consistently asking Razmik: “Why did you refuse being subjected to forensic medicine?” Razmik did not respond. At that moment, the people present in the courtroom were whispering that Razmik was not saying anything probably because the doctors were giving false information. “Silence!” said the judge after which lawyer A. Atoyan objected: “Silence, silence, silence!” cried judge Aghramanyan. The lawyers were asking for the opportunity to talk, however, the judge even forbid talking in jargon. The lawyer was bringing up the law, according to which he has the right to speak and the judge was saying “I am not letting you speak. Silence!” The people present in the court room were screaming “Shame on you!”, and the frustrated judge was calling each person out of the courtroom. Everyone claimed that the boy was unable to speak. The judge said: “Get out of here. Who said that? Out!…” The lawyer asked to make an announcement, however, he was rejected. Apresyan, prosecutor of the military prosecutor’s office in Askeran and one who had accused Razmik, came late to the court hearing and his arrival caused a scandal. The suggestions made by the lawyers to speak were rejected by law. Lawyer Zaruhi Postanjyan asked to give her five minutes in order to find out the defendant’s orientation. Later, when R. Sargsyan was hurting from pain, the people in the room suggested performing first aid. The judge didn’t care about that. The court hearing turned into a chaotic situation after which the judge called everyone out except the defendants. Lawyer J. Postanjyan told us in the end that they had made a challenge to the judge during a closed court hearing; however, they had been rejected. The second court hearing will take place today.