Rafael has dared to let everyone know about the case because, in his
words, “I already have nothing to lose. My children are already dying
from hunger and darkness and they will certainly not make it through
the winter this year. Whatever may happen, let it happen. I am not
afraid. Let him come and kill us all. We can not go on living like
this…”
Already former resident of the city of Alaverdi Rafael Tamazyan tells
the story. On June 24, 1993, he was shot by one of the workers of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs Mesrop Hovhannisyan. Both men have worked
together in the “Ayrum” railway station for the Internal Affairs
department. Rafael Tamazyan was the on-duty operator and Mesrop
Hovhannisyan was the criminal prosecution inspector. According to
Tamazyan, on the above mentioned day while the men were in service,
criminal prosecution inspector and Lieutenant Mesrop Hovhannisyan had
gotten really drunk. He had said really loudly that he was feeling
pretty high, and in order to express his feeling, had taken out a gun
and shot Rafael in the stomach. Tamazyan was transferred to the
hospital in Noyemberyan with major injuries. According to Rafael, his
family did not know that he had been hit and was in the hospital. One
day later, the police officers had called Tamazyan’s wife and lied to
her by saying that the reason that her husband was in the hospital was
because they had to remove his intestine. After doing an operation on
Rafael’s intestines, they had sewn the hard and soft ones back
together. Meanwhile, R. Tamazyan claims that he is still not cured
because after the operation he has had problems with his kidneys and
suffers from back pains. R. Tamazyan says that the same M. Hovhannisyan
and his “backup’ had visited him in the hospital. At first, he had
suggested not to let anyone know about what had happened. Then, he had
threatened to “kill” both him and his family members if any word was
let out. He has promised many times to take care of the expenses for
medical aid and compensate for the damage caused. He has not helped or
paid for medical aid. Rafael says: “I don’t even know whether or not a
case has been appealed. I have heard that the case has been appealed
but then dismissed. Nobody has told me anything about what has
happened. After the event they freed me from work writing a statement
that I had taken advantage of my job. I sold my house and my property
so that I could pay for my treatment. I came to Yerevan. I live with my
wife and children in a rented home. The hospital even prepared a
pension for invalids, but in reality I am an invalid. I can not do
heavy duty work. My family is in a terrible situation, we can not pay
the rent and they are already kicking us out. My child got diagnosed
with pneumonia due to the darkness and humidity of the basement, but I
can not take him to the doctor. Look at what effect Mesrop’s pleasure
had.” R. Tamazyan states that he has complained to the National
Assembly, different organizations-but all in vain. “Recently, I met
Mesrop Hovhannisyan. I presented my family’s situation to him and asked
him to find me a job somewhere, but he just said ‘I did a good thing
for shooting you, if I see you again I will “kill you”. After that
encounter, he has been raised to a higher position and currently
occupies the rank of military police officer. They raised the
criminal’s rank, but fired me for taking advantage of my job,” said R.
Tamazyan.
P.S. The editorial staff is ready to listen to Mesrop Hovhannisyan’s side of the story.