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The “obviously illegal decision” on stopping the criminal prosecution against Tigran Khachatryan, the son of the former Governor of Syunik region, and his bodyguard, is more concerning for Chairman of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Artur Sakunts than the fact how the further activities of the Commission on the Death Cases of Servicemen will proceed.  In an interview with “1in.am” Sakunts noted that the remaining Commission members and the Military Prosecutor’s Office itself should be concerned with it. “The Commission, unfortunately, lost its significance: there is doubt here that any case regarding which the criminal case was closed or stopped will deserve the same fate”, he stated. Sakunts will continue following the Commission’s activities, although not in its composition, since by his words, the mechanism to collaborate with the Military Prosecutor’s Office is already under doubt.

President of “Journalists for Human Rights” NGO Zhanna Aleksanyan, who won’t either partake in the Commission’s activities, noted that they had held meetings with the parents of the diseased servicemen. “Initially, when we gave our consent to partake in the Commission’s activities, we held meetings with the parents having publicly staged their protest for years in a row. The parents didn’t have trust towards the Commission”, said Aleksanyan. She pointed out that she hadn’t given her final consent reckoning to discuss a number of issues before giving her final agreement. Aleksanyan highlighted, “The Military Prosecutor issued a statement over a public case and this scandalous case shows where the other cases will end up.”

“In the event of neglecting the public and not caring for its opinion I don’t think they would conduct a comprehensive investigation over other cases.” This is a result of negligence towards the public and the other party over the case. I think the Military Prosecutor merely wanted to promote his PR through the establishment of this Commission”, she stated. Aleksanyan  noted that both her and Artur Sakunts’ organizations are engaged in criminal cases and will continue their activities in the future.

Chairman of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Artur Sakunts and President of “Journalists for Human Rights” NGO Zhanna Aleksanyan have disseminated a statement, which specifically reads “Taking into account the obviously illegal decision of the RA MoD Investigation Service  on  stopping the criminal prosecution against Tigran Khachatryan, the son of the former Governor of  Syunik region and his bodyguard, which was reached under the direct guidance and supervision of RA Military Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan, we find our further activities impossible within the composition  of  the Commission on servicemen’s  death that hasn’t yet started its activities.”