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On June 29, 2011, term soldier Tigran Hambardzumyan’s mutilated body was discovered in a forest adjacent to the RA Ministry of Defense 54809Military Unit of Kapan. On July 4, 2011, HCAV visited the relatives of the dead soldier to clarify the death circumstances of Tigran Hambardzumyan, who served in the 54809 Military Unit.

He had been called up from Norabats Village in Masis Region and had been in service for one and a half years.

His parents last saw him on April 29, 2011 in Karmraqar, when they paid him a visit. Their son was in a good mood and did not have any complaints. His mother had a last phone conversation with Tigran Hambardzumyan at approximately 11: 00 am on June 28, 2011, the day of his disappearance. She indicated her son was in a good mood, requested to recharge his mobile account, and asked that his aunt call him. At about 11: 10 am, when his aunt called, Tigran talked to her, asked her to recharge his mobile account as well as to send him money.

Periodically, Tigran’s relatives sent him between 5000-10 000 AMD. According to his aunt, Tigran was in a very good mood, and even joked with her.  At about 4 pm on the same day, Commander of the Battalion Gevorg Margaryan, who was in Yerevan for training for the past month, telephoned Benik Hambardzumyan and asked if Tigran had returned home, as he had left the military unit. During the same period, Chief of Staff Arsen Voskanyan telephoned his mother, Mrs. Anahit questioning whether she knew where her son was because he could not be found in the military unit. In response, his father stated that his son never left the military unit arbitrarily in the one and a half years he was in service and added that it was impossible that Tigran would have just left the unit.

After the calls from the military unit, the parents telephoned their son, but he could not be reached. At approximately 23:00 pm Tigran’s father called the chief of staff informing that he wanted to visit the military unit. However, the chief of staff told him that Tigran might not even come back, as “he could be staying at a relative’s place and would soon be back.”

The next morning of June 29th, the parents set out early for the military unit in Kapan. On their way to Kapan they stopped by a VIVACELL office in Goris to get information on Tigran’s phone calls. They were told at the office that Tigran’s phone had been turned off at approximately 12:30 am, on June 28th, his phone account was recharged with 1097 AMD, but later, according to the police officials, the battery had not died.

Tigran’s parents arrived in the military unit and started questioning the other soldiers about Tigran. One of the soldiers claimed he had seen Tigran washing up between 12:00-14:00 pm and then said he climbed over the military fence and disappeared. He said Tigran also spoke to the military unit maintenance person while he was washing up.

According to the order given by the chief of the military staff, only the father was to be let in and to wait until he arrived. To the question where Tigran was, he replied “he must have run away” and that they only noticed Tigran was missing at around 14:00 pm.

At around 6 pm on June 26th Tigran was on duty at the headquarters for two consecutive days. However, his father considered it unacceptable and impossible, because it was the first time within one and a half years that Tigran had been on duty at the headquarters.  He also told Tigran’s mother that “I told Tigran to clean the area, and even he came to report it after he had completed his task and said that he intended to change”, however, the father denies that he could have cleaned the area.

During the general meeting, Tigran’s father was told that his son had an argument with someone in the cafeteria. At 15:00 pm on June 29th, Masis Military Commissariat called Benik Hambardzumyan, when he was still in the military unit and informed Benik his son’s mutilated body had been discovered in the forest.

Tigran’s father arrived at the crime scene, located 30-40 meters away in a direct line from the body.  The body was 50-60 meters away in an alley from the military unit.However, the  father was only allowed to see himfrom 3 meters away and was not allowed to get closer.Benik Hambardzumyan saw his son under a big tree, lying on his face, with his head on arms that were crossed. The skin on the neck onthe right side of the head was cut off or clawed apart, the raw flesh could be seen, but there were no injuries on the lower parts of the body and the clothes were not torn. Tigran was wearing a military t-shirt without any outerwear. No bruises, cuts, injuries, or wounds on the fingers except for a slight scratch on the back. The father of the victim recalled, “They wanted to convinceme that worms had eaten the head of my son”. Tigran’s dead body was first taken to Kapan and then to Yerevan for an autopsy.  A friend’s of Tigran’s father and two relatives were present during the autopsy.According to the official message, a “Rapira” razor was found near Tigran’s dead body. A long cut of 1.5-2 cm deep and 7-8 cm wide was identified near the inside bend of the elbow. 

The first widely circulated version of the event was that Tigran had left to spend a night in the forest and the wolves had torn him apart. The next version was that Tigran had committed suicide by cutting hisarm with a razor and later forest beasts had eaten his head.
Tigran’s father, Benik Hambardzumyan, denies that his son’s head had been eaten by wolves, because the other parts of the body were not injured in spite of a long cut on the left arm. He was also notified that there were no wolves in the forest, except for wild dogs and hyenas.  Tigran’s mother Mrs. Anahit recalled that her son used to say that he was on bad terms with the chief of the staff and the chiefcould not “stand him”. After Tigran’s death, his brothers informed relatives that Tigran had informed him that in January of 2011, the chief of staff had beaten Tigran severely. Only now, relatives can guess why he had scars on his face. 

It is worth noting that during his service, Tigran was awarded for excellent service and had been promised a sergeant’s rank, usually the highest rank awarded was a junior sergeant’s title. He received a subsequent 18-day vacation during his military service.   It has been reported that the RA Ministry of Defense Investigation Service filed 90554311 criminal case over Tigran Hambardzumyan’s death under Part 1 of Article 110 of the RA Criminal Code: “Causing somebody to commit suicide or make an attempt at a suicide by indirect willfulness or by negligence, by means of threat, cruel treatment or regular humiliation of one’s dignity, is punished with imprisonment for the term of up to 3 years.

Moreover, soldier Grigor Davuljyan, who was a close friend of Tigran Hambardzumyan and in the same unit, was also present in the Military Police during the times of the investigations over his death.  He had been called up after graduating from the Painter’s Academy and had also been in service for one and a half years. According to relatives, Grigor Davuljyan has some health related issues. He has been complaining of unstable blood pressure, nose bleedings since childhood, and that is why he was often at the medical center. Grigor Davuljyan is currently in the military unit. According to some sources, military police has been conducting in-depth investigations by questioning other soldiers. Whether Chief of Staff Arsen Voskanyan has been questioned is not known.

According to studies conducted by HCA-Vanadzor, it has been the 13th death case in the armed forces since the beginning of 2011.