The famous “Mataghis” Case, which has been in our sights for nine years and has been tried in the Shirak Region Court of Common Jurisdiction since 2008, has moved to the final stage of presenting court debates.

However it is being unduly delayed by the prosecutor’s office. This raises concerns that an attempt is being made to once again blame the death of the two soldiers on the three innocent young men, Razmik Sargsyan, Musa Serobyan, and Arayik Zalyan, who were unjustly incarcerated for 3 years and were finally exonerated, and to cover up the real criminals.

After the case was reversed by the Court of Cassation, the new investigation did not reveal any new facts and the same defendants released by the Court of Cassation, R. Sargsyan, M. Serobyan, and A. Zalyan were charged again.

Dozens of witnesses interrogated upon the motion of the prosecutor were unable to add anything new to the charges that had already fallen apart.

Both during the previous and the current trial, the former servicemen testified about violent beating and arbitrary detention used against them during the interrogations.

On October 30, 2012, the Court moved to the stage of court debates, where the prosecutors give their speeches; however so far there have been 4 hearings scheduled (on November 7, November 14, November 19, and November 23) and none of them took place because of various excuses by the prosecutors: being on  holidays, being sick or not being familiar with the case materials.

While the prosecutors advocating for the charges do not appear in court and the one, who appears, states that he is not familiar with the case materials and cannot make a speech about the case, the prosecutor’s office is busy with shady business. The prosecutor’s office had prepared a fake witness for the trial, who however appeared in court and stated that the application was dictated to the witness by one of the prosecutors and even pointed at the prosecutor, accusing him of dictating the application.

Now there is new evidence that the prosecutor’s office does not cease the efforts to extort new insinuations from this person. To make its efforts easier the prosecutor’s office is attempting to revive a case that was dismissed (quash) several years ago and has nothing to do with this case, in order to use it to pressure the witness.

In parallel, the prosecutor’s office continues to protract the “Mataghis” case with fake excuses, while keeping the three young men captive.

The “Mataghis” Case is a touchstone for justice in military cases. We strongly condemn any attempts to use suspicious and inadmissible means to sustain the participation of the innocent young men in the criminal case. These young men have already spent three years of their best lifetime in prison and 9 years in charges, have been subject to unbearable torture and intimidation for something they are not guilty of and the perpetrators of which are free. We call upon the Court and the prosecutor’s office to remain loyal to the law and the Constitution. We declare that we will do everything for justice to triumph, including monitoring the trial and engaging the attention and support of the local and international community.

As a recap, on May 18, 2005, the Syunik region Court of Common Jurisdiction found three servicemen of Military Unit 33651, Arayik Zalyan, Razmik Sargsyan, and Musa Serobyan guilty of the murder of 2 servicemen of the same military unit and sentenced them to 15 years of imprisonment.

The military prosecutor appealed the verdict, petitioning to give a life sentence to the defendants. The defendants appealed the verdict denying the accusations against them and requesting to review the case. On May 30, 2006, The RA Court of Military and Criminal Appeals sentenced A. Zalyan, R. Sargsyan, and M. Serobyan to life in prison.

Based on the numerous contradictions in the case, the father of one of the victims submitted an appeal to the Court of Cassation, where he stated that the examination of the case was done with violations of the norms of criminal procedure, which affected the objective, comprehensive, and complete examination of the case, resulting in the actual perpetrators not to be accused during both trials and remaining free, while the three innocent young men being sentenced to life in prison.

On December 22, 2006, almost three years after the murders, the RA Court of Cassation granted the appeal of the representative of the successor of the victim, M. Mkrtumyan, the father of the murdered serviceman, to reverse the verdict against R. Sargsyan, M. Serobyan, and A. Zalyan and to submit the case for a new investigation.

Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor NGO
The Army in Reality Civic Initiative
"Populex" LTD Advocate's office
Peace Dialogue NGO
Hope NGO
Public Information and Need of Knowledge NGO
Transparency International Anti-corruption Center
Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives NGO
Center for Strategic Litigations Human Rights NGO
Civic Forum NGO
Protection of Rights without Borders NGO
Guarantee Center of Civil Society NGO
Yerevan Center for Human Rights Protection NGO
The Borders of our Rights NGO
Oak NGO
Spitak Helsinki Group NGO
Democracy Today NGO
Real World, Real People, NGO
Women’s Resource Center NGO
Ecolur NGO
Helsinki Committee of Armenia NGO
Journalists’ Club “Asparez”
Shahkhatun NGO