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“The activities of the Review Commission on death-end criminal cases at RA Armed Forces are shadowed and made meaningless not by us but by those, who took an apparently illegal decision over stopping the criminal prosecution against Tigran Khachatryan, the son of former Syunik region Governor Surik Khachatryan and his bodyguard”, noted Chairman of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Artur Sakunts in a talk with MAMUL.am reporter.

It is noteworthy that on September 10 Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor and “Journalists for Human Rights” NGO declared about termination of their participation in the activities of the Review Commission on death-end criminal cases at RA Armed Forces established by the initiative of the RA Prosecutor General’s office.

“Taking into account the apparently illegal decision of the RA MoD Investigative Service to stop the criminal prosecution against Tigran Khachatryan, the son of former Syunik region Governor Surik Khachatryan and his bodyguard, which was taken through the direct instruction and control of the RA Military Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan, we state that we find our future activities impossible in the composition of the Review Commission on death-end criminal cases at RA Armed Forces, which hasn’t yet launched its activities”, read the joint statement of  two  NGO heads Artur Sakunts and Zhanna Aleksanyan.

RA Military Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan found the statement of the two NGOs as strange.  By commenting their statement regarding withdrawal from the Review Commission, the Military Prosecutor noted in a talk with Aravot.am, “The statements on withdrawal from the Commission create the impression that they merely attempts to obscure or make the activities of the Commission meaningless.”

By addressing Gevorg Kostanyan’s interpretation, Artur Sakunts stated, “The activities of the Commission are shadowed not by us, but by the MoD Investigative Service, which would later be in charge of conducting investigation on military cases, they were shadowed just by the Military Prosecutor”. According to him, Artak Budaghyan’s case was also military one. The MoD Investigative Service has displayed an apparently illegal conduct over Budaghyans’ case and has taken an unlawful decision.

“That decision totally contradicted the case materials. The body cannot be impartial over one case and be biased over the others. The conduct and approaches of the body should be similar and predictable. Whereas, in case of the lack of predictability of the MoD Investigative Service, there can be no single safeguard that later upon conducting investigation on military cases no selective approach will be displayed. Thus, we do not want to be enrolled in a formal Commission”, stated A. Sakunts.

“The withdrawal from the Commission is reasoned by a fact that at this phase has nothing to do with the Military Prosecutor’s Office. The decision to stop criminal prosecution against Khachatryan within the framework of the criminal case reviewed by RA MoD Investigative Service to this point has not become a subject for discussion at the Military Prosecutor’s Office. Moreover, the procedures on verification of its legality have not yet been completed, and the Military Prosecutor’s office has not given any official assessment to the above-mentioned decision”, stated Gevorg Kostanyan in a talk with Aravot.am.

Whereas, by Sakunts’ words, pursuant to the logic of oversight, before he took a decision, the Military Prosecutor should have given his instructions to the investigative bodies.

“Without the consent of the Military Prosecutor’s office, the investigative body could not take such a decision”, noted the human rights activist.