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Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor carries on providing legal assistance to conscripts and their families. The Organization receives alerts on declaring conscripts fit for military service despite their health problems and we regularly referred to such alerts in our previous publications.

During the winter call-up of 2016, conscript T. M. consulted HCA Vanadzor and said that despite his health problems, he was declared fit for military service by the RA MoD (Ministry of Defense) Central Medical Commission’s decision and called up for military service, but he did not present himself for the conscription as he disagreed with the decision.

Based on the results of the expert examination under the criminal case against T. M., he was again declared fit for military service. And the investigating agency rejected the motion submitted with the help of HCA Vanadzor considering it groundless.

The motion drew attention to the fact that the expert examination conclusion did not make it clear what methodology and what literature were applied by the expert for the conclusions.

Also, the expert opinion had absolutely no mention of the contradictions between the data in the medical documents and the Central Medical Commission’s decision which is essential to find out the circumstances based on which a conscript with the same health problems was granted deferment twice and was now declared fit for service.

Giving importance to the questions raised in the motion, the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Lori Garrison considered the investigating body’s decision premature, granted the defendant’s motion and assigned the investigating body to schedule another forensic medical examination to find answers to the said questions.

The Military Prosecutor’s Office of Lori Garrison considered premature the investigating body’s decision on conscript A. B.’s case as well.

The decision emphasized that the expert examination and the investigating body did not reveal and pay proper attention to the reasons of some of the conscript’s complaints and did not address the way in which examinations to detect his disease were carried out. And the prosecutor considered ill-founded expert Gagik Harutyunyan’s testimony that there were no preconditions for any further examinations and the list of references and examinations was too long to be covered in the expert opinion and found that their absence made it impossible to create a complete picture of the disease.

The Military Prosecutor’s Office of Lori Garrison assigned to hold another forensic medical examination on T. M.’s and A. B.’s cases.