Relatives of killed Armenian sevicemen announce plans to overthrow Pashinyan

The relatives of the servicemen killed in the 44-day war made a statement in front of the Armenian Investigative Committee building to launch a political struggle.

Ara Rostomyan, father of the deceased soldier Hakob Rostomyan told journalists they will hold their protest actions until they achieve the resignation of the authorities, Caliber.Az reports citing Armenian media.

On April 13, families and relatives of the servicemen gathered outside the Armenian Investigative Committee's building to demand a meeting with Yura Ivanyan, head of the committee's administration. The protesters wanted to find out how the Yerablur Pantheon incident was progressing. They staged a sit-in picket, spending the night outside the IC building and demanding that the police officers involved in the incident be charged. Eventually, the IC representative refused to meet them and the agency expressed its willingness to respond to written requests from the victims.

"In legal terms, we no longer have any expectations from the state, so we appeal to all human rights defenders to raise our issue in international structures," Rostomyan said.

He added that the relatives of the deceased soldiers would report further steps on April 17, after thinking through further tactics.

Armenian media recall that on the morning of September 21, 2022, Armenian Independence Day, the families of the dead soldiers were on duty at the Yerablur Military Pantheon, intending to disrupt Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's visit. However, the police used force, including against the mothers of the dead soldiers, and took them to police stations.

An official investigation was opened by the police and criminal proceedings were initiated in the Investigative Committee for abuse of office or official powers accompanied by violence. Sixteen parents and relatives of the deceased servicemen were identified as victims.

An administrative case was also initiated against the parents for failure to obey the demands of the authorities.