During the 44-Day War, Officers Created Conditions for Subordinate Personnel to Surrender Arms in Battle: Investigative Committee

During the 44-day war in Artsakh, senior officers created conditions for subordinate personnel to surrender their weapons in battle. This information was reported by the Investigative Committee.

During the preliminary investigation of a criminal case in the particularly important cases investigation department of the Military Investigative Main Department of the RA Investigative Committee, it has been established that a senior officer holding the position of deputy commander of one of the military corps of the RA Ministry of Defense, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, speaking according to the provisions of the internal service regulations of the RA Armed Forces and other normative acts, acted as a state authority and was endowed with organizational and managerial functions. He had the authority to issue orders and ensure their execution. On September 27, 2020, during the state of martial law declared by Decision No. 1586-N of the RA Government, he reached a preliminary agreement with the senior officer who held the position of deputy commander of a military unit, with the rank of major, to commit particularly serious offenses.

The agreement involved intentionally creating conditions for subordinate personnel to refrain from using their weapons during battle. By coordinating their actions within a group, they ordered the commanders of two subordinate subdivisions on October 19, 2020, to spread panic among the military personnel of the unit, with the aim that the military personnel would refrain from using their weapons in battle. However, due to circumstances beyond the control of the senior officers, this did not occur, as the commanders of the subordinate subdivisions, recognizing the illegality of the order given, did not inform any of the subordinate soldiers about it.

Criminal charges have been filed against the senior officers who held the positions of deputy commander of the military corps with the rank of lieutenant colonel and deputy commander of the military unit with the rank of major, under Part 2 of Article 35-380 of the former Criminal Code of Armenia (corresponding to Part 2 of Article 43-546 of the current Criminal Code). The measure of restraint applied to them has been detention. The completion of the preliminary investigation has been announced, and the case has been sent to the supervising prosecutor with a bill of indictment.