YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–Two soldiers were detained on charges of coercing a junior sergeant of the Stepanavan military unit–Mkrtich Poghossian–to commit suicide.
Ararat Poghossian said that he knew about his son’s death on July 28. He was informed that Mkrtich hung himself in the military unit the day before.
The investigator Vardan Smbatian told the soldier’s parents that their son committed suicide because of religious convictions–and that the investigators found religious tracts in his pocket.
Poghossian’s parents did not believe Smbatian because their son had never shown any interest in any religion. Before being transferred to the Stepanavan military unit he had risen to the rank of junior sergeant in six months and he had never rejected arms.
In the military units–Mkrtich had a few problems as a result of which he was beaten up and taken to medical unit. But the commander of the military unit and the investigators concealed the real reasons for his hospitalization and forced those involved in the case to say that Mkrtich Poghossian was injured because he fell down a ladder.
The soldier’s father is sure that if the crime was dealt with truthfully those who are guilty would have been punished already and the end would not be so tragic. Now Ararat Poghossian has asked different organizations–including human rights organizations to follow the investigation and the trial–and to assist him in finding the real culprit and holding him responsible for his son’s death.