Mrs. Anahit Mkrtchyan says that in 2001 her son Arayik, serving in the army was shot to death in the head by his commanding officer for not handing over $100 as a “gift”. Today, she presented a public protest note to RoA Chief Prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepyan to get to the bottom of her son’s murder and to bring the guilty to justice. “My boy had just returned to his unit from a holiday with the family. As is the custom in the army, his commanding officer asked him if he had brought $100 with him. When my son replied that his parents had nothing to give him, the officer grabbed him by the collar, made him kneel, pulled out a gun and then shot him in the head,” claims Mrs. Mkrtchyan. She says that an eye-witness told her this story and that the account was taken down as testimony and that it corresponds to the findings made by the forensics’ examiner. The grieving mother says that while the eye-witness refused to testify in court, he stood by his testimony when the case was returned to the Prosecutor’s Office. Mrs. Mkrtchyan says that after this the witness left Armenia and they haven’t been able to verify his whereabouts. The case has since been dropped by the court. “At the time, one of the soldiers at the base came forward and said that he had shot my son. But he later retracted his statement. In the meantime, I have found out that the commander in question, Mher Stepanyan, killed another soldier in 1998. I petitioned the Prosecutor’s Office to clarify the matter and they sent me an official reply stating that Stepanyan had abused his position resulting in the soldier slashing his wrists. The commander, however, was later pardoned,” says Mrs. Mkrtchyan. She adds that ever since 2001, “it seems that they have no wish to reveal the truth and charge the commander.”