On August 20, 2017, the body of Armenian Army Captain Andranik Mkrtchyan, serving in the Meghri military unit, was found with a gunshot wound to his jaw.

 According to the preliminary investigation, Andranik Mkrtchyan committed suicide.

His mother, Narineh Mkrtchyan, believes her son was killed and the investigation into his death was botched.

Mkrtchyan and parents of other soldiers who died in non-combat conditions, staged a protest outside Yerevan’s Government Building, demanding a transparent investigation to find the culprits.

"My child was killed in the Meghri military unit. From the start, without investigating, without a forensic medical report, without doing anything, they described it as suicide,” Mkrtchyan told Hetq, adding that the fingerprints of four people were found on her son’s service weapon.

Mkrtchyan claims army officials, fearing repercussions, washed all traces of blood at the site.

The body of soldier Valerik Muradyan was found hanging in a Stepanakert military unit on March 15, 2010.  

Valerik’s mother, Nana Muradyan, told Hetq that a few days before the incident, her son had witnessed soldiers stealing fuel and was offered money to hush it up.

In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against Armenia for violating the right to life of soldier Valery Muradyan. The ECHR obliged Armenia to pay 20,000 euros compensation to Nana Muradyan.  

According to the official forensic examination, the soldier died due to suffocation. mechanical suffocation. The examination found several injuries on the body. Investigators argued that   preceding the incident, Muradyan was repairing a military vehicle, causing bruises. 

Mrs. Muradyan wants the relevant authorities to find her son’s killers.

Armenian Justice Minster Grigor Minasyan met with the parents and requested they file a petition to his office in writing.

On May 2, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)  ordered the Armenian government to pay €50,000 in damages to the mother of Tigran Ohanjanyan, who died in 2007 while serving in the Armenian Army.

The Armenian government argued that Ohanjanyan was accidentally electrocuted, a claim dismissed by his mother Gohar Sargsyan. She claims her son was murdered.

The ECHR, in its decision, found that the investigation carried out by Armenian authorities was seriously deficient and that it cannot consider the conclusions of that investigation to be reliable or the explanation for Ohanjanyan’s death to be convincing and satisfactory.

P.S. While the number of disputed non-combat deaths in the Armenian military remains a subject of conjecture, the Safe Soldiers for a Safe Armenia project reports that according to information provided by Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, from January 1 to December 31, 2022, 32 out of 64 deaths of soldiers and contract servicemen of Armenia’s and Artsakh Armed Forces were registered as not related to military service.  

During the reporting period, 15 servicemen were killed in ceasefire violations.  Six committed suicide. Twenty died from fatal incidents. Health problems caused the death of nineteen. Two died due to safety violations. of safety rules.  Three were murdered by fellow servicemen. One died because of official negligence.