Mothers of dead soldiers protest outside Armenian government
Mothers of several Armenian soldiers who died in non-combat-related incidents in different years again staged a protest outside the government building on Thursday, demanding a fair investigation into the deaths of their sons.
They were expecting a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, but Deputy Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan came out to talk to the protesters instead.
The angry mothers, all dressed in black, stressed they had already called PM’s assistant Nairi Sargsyan for a few times already.
“It turns out that Mr. Pashinyan is no longer interested in our concerns. He came down to meet us only once, but it has yielded no results. The investigation has not taken a step further. What we demand is only justice,” said the mothers of soldiers Tigran Ohanjanyan and Valeri Muradyan.
According to the protesting mothers, if those responsible for their sons’ deaths had been held accountable the recent non-combat deaths in the army would not have taken place.
The angry mothers reiterated their demand to meet with Nikol Pashinyan.
“This can’t be tolerated anymore. How long can we be left in ignorance? If he [Pashinyan] has time to deliver books, he can also find time to meet us. This is a much more important issue, soldiers are more important than books,” they said, referring to the PM’s initiative to call at people and present them with books on Wednesday, the Book Giving Day.
Alen Simonyan promised to convey their demand to the prime minister.