During Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s speech at a Civil Contract campaign event in Spitak, Artyom Grigoryan, the grandfather of Aram Manukyan — one of the 15 servicemen killed in the fire at the Azat village barracks — attempted to address the prime minister, but his mouth was immediately covered and he was removed from the area.
At the same time, Pashinyan said from the podium that such incidents should not be paid attention to, Sputnik Armenia reported.
“Let’s not pay attention, the Kaluga oligarch gives 200,000 and sends them,” Pashinyan said.
The individuals who removed Aram Manukyan’s grandfather from the area did not identify themselves.
“I’m not a terrorist, I’m a man with a heart operated on, where are you taking me? I wanted to voice my demand, that they took my child and burned him in Azat village. Aram had only 25 days left before finishing his service. He doesn’t listen, he doesn’t receive us,” Artyom Grigoryan said, referring to Pashinyan.
“For three years, the trial has been going on, but no one has been punished. They arrested one soldier who had been on duty. But what about the high-ranking military officials who did nothing?” he added.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan was also present at the scene and attempted to rebuke journalists over their questions, urging them to let “the man catch his breath.”
In response, journalists asked why she had not thought about the elderly man’s need to breathe when his mouth was being covered and why she had not urged those around him to let him go. Avanesyan left the question unanswered.
At around 1:30 a.m. on January 19, 2023, a fire broke out in a barracks building of an Armenian Defense Ministry military unit located in the village of Azat in Gegharkunik province. Fifteen servicemen were killed and seven others were injured. So far, only one verdict has been issued in the case: company duty officer Radik Matevosyan was sentenced to three years in prison.
Criminal proceedings were also launched against G.M., commander of the military unit’s engineering-sapper company, and engineering service officer Yeghishe Hakobyan.
