Parents of fallen soldiers visit National Asembly
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, and the NA Standing Committee on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs today convened a joint sitting.
Armenian Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan was also present at the sitting initiated by the parent of soldiers who died in non-combat conditions.
NA Vice-Speaker Samvel Nikoyan, who did not like the presence of journalists and cameramen in the sitting, suggested continuing the discussion without media representatives.
An hour later, Gegham Sergoyan, the father of perished Robert Mirzoyan, left thesitting room shouting and yelling. As Sergoyan said later he was angered by the officials' indifference to his grief and unwillingness to start a fair investigation into the deaths of their sons.
The parents are confident that the discussions will not yield any results,
Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan told reporters after the sitting that the discussions cannot be considered to be effective unless the disparate parents stop their protests and their demand for fair inquiry is met.
"During the discussion we came to the conclusion that each parent should substantiate his complaint on legal basis. Further on, we shall forward their letters to deputies and meet with standing committees to discuss the matter. Deputies will send the letters to relevant bodies," said Karapetyan.
Samvel Nikoyan says the ombudsman and the parents invited the sitting to call public attention to the criminal cases.
"The National Assembly will follow up the investigation," he promised.
