On Independence Day of the RA, ten leaders of the Artsakh war leagues
asked President Robert Kocharyan for an extraordinary favor. They have
asked the president to forgive the three individuals who have been
sentenced to death for a state crime on the occasion of Armenia’s 14
year independence. The leaders refer to the criminals Armen Mnjoyan,
Arsen Artsruni and Tigran Khachatryan who have collaborated with “Dro”
and “Vahan Hovhannisyan +30”. Let’s recall that they had been sentenced
to death for a state overturn and an attempt to commit a terrorist act,
but then the sentence had been life in jail. According to the letter
written by General Major Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan (Commander) sent to the
President, life in jail has greatly affected the lives of his friends.
He believes that the three abovementioned individuals can be of great
help to society and the country. “I don’t believe that they are 100%
state criminals. Perhaps they have committed a crime back then, but
today they deserve to be released. People change over time and I want
for our soldiers to be released,” says Arkadi Ter=Tadevosyan. What’s
more, the General Major feels sorry that he hadn’t written a letter to
the president a long time ago. Especially when the individuals
condemned for those crimes were released after the change of power in
1998 which gave way to a “change of the country’s situation as a
whole.” Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan believes that it is unjust to release
some and leave the rest in jail. “I did not wish to talk about that,
but they weren’t the only ones condemned for that crime,” says Vahan
Hovhannisyan. Of course, Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan states that once the
individuals are released from jail, they will not be allowed to get
involved in politics because that was the main reason why they ended up
in jail. Instead of letting them getting mixed up in the political
life, Arkadi will help his friends to find a job and raise a family.
Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan doesn’t really care about what the president will
decide. But he assured us that he will continue writing letters until
he receives a positive response.
