Vagram Avagyan's relatives demand not to treat his death as suicide

A protest action held by relatives of the soldier, who perished in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) turned into clashes with policemen, who wouldn't let the protesters into Yerevan. The Armenian Minister of Defence has persuaded the soldier's relatives to disperse by promising to revise the suicidal version of his death.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a conscript soldier, Vagram Avagyan (also named in media as Avakyan) died on January 30 from a gunshot wound in a military unit of the NKR's Defence Army.

The investigators' version that Vagram Avagyan had wounded himself at the shooting range has caused discontent of his relatives. They demanded to recognize Avagyan's death as a murder, and on February 2, left for Yerevan, which led to clashes with policemen, who blocked the highway, the "NEWS.am" has reported.

David Tonoyan, the Armenian Defence Minister, met Avagyan's relatives at the entrance to Yerevan. He asked them to stop their protest. "Let's stop this. Judging by the information I received, and the circumstances that I see, he (Avagyan) is not a suicide for me," Mr Tonoyan told the crowd.

The minister has assured that the commanders of the military unit will be "severely punished," and "the names of the perpetrators will be published." After that, the protest action was stopped, the "RIA Novosti" reports.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 2, 2020 at 03:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.