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Mothers of dead Armenian soldiers see no justice

21 August 2015 [10:35] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

After an investigation that lasted 2.5 months, the Special Investigation Service of Armenia closed a criminal case instituted in connection with the use of police violence against the mothers of soldiers who suffered non-combat deaths in the military.

The decision was not a surprise for Ghazarian, mother of one of the dead soldiers. "I knew that no one would be punished because we have no real state and no justice."

The parents of dead soldiers in Armenia were subject to a brutal police crackdown when they attempted to express their sorrow by staging a protest at the gate of the presidential palace in Yerevan.

"If Serzh Sargsyan wants to find out the truth, he would have accepted and listened to us. But he does not, what that means is that he is the one to blame," said the mother of one of the dead soldiers.

The police resorted to several acts of brutality such as pushing and striking the angered mothers in an effort to oust them from the gates of the presidential palace.

The police provoked the mothers by discreetly hitting them and squeezing their arms, and when the parents tried to defend themselves, the law enforcement officers loudly demanded "not to hit the police."

After that incident, parents have repeatedly tried to come close to the presidential office, only to be turned away each and each time by a cordon of police.

After the investigation, however, the Service considered the actions of the police as lawful and justified.

Complaints were submitted by mothers of the two soldiers died in 2010 in non-combat circumstances. A criminal case was opened on after an article titled "exceeding authority which was accompanied by violence, weapons or special devices” was published, inflaming the country.

Cases of soldier deaths in non-combat situations have intensified in the post-Soviet country with a population of 2 million people.

The increasing number of soldier deaths has unavoidably triggered public concern and angered the desperate families. Due to the Armenian government’s aggressive policy, the youth is left to die in the occupied territories with no hope for escape.

The ministry tries to hide the motives and conditions of soldier deaths amid ongoing chaos and disorder in the army.

Absolute chaos reining in the Armenian Armed Forces is supported by numerous cases of desertion and evasion. Every young man who has the opportunity to run from service in the Armenian army does it with great pleasure.

Armenia, which treats its soldiers as nothing more than mere statistics, and its army, which is still not fully staffed and is unable to provide weapons to every soldier, cannot be taken seriously either by its own people, or by neighboring countries.

What else can be said when unbearable conditions in the army push Armenian soldiers to cross the frontline and surrender to the Azerbaijani Army, asking not to send them back?

URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/143077.html

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