“Hraparak” newspaper writes: “On April 26, the Facebook page “Tavush for the Motherland” announced that contract servicemen are joining their struggle, about 20 people. Videos appeared, people got excited. The joining of the army could play the role of a detonator, like the joining of the peacekeeping regiment in 2018, and the government felt that danger immediately.
Less than a few seconds later, the Ministry of Defense reported that it was taking measures to identify and assess the identity of those persons, warning in advance: “Any attempt to involve the RA armed forces in political processes will receive an adequate legal assessment.”
And the next day, the RA Investigative Committee reported that criminal proceedings were initiated regarding the case of a group of servicemen apparently refusing to perform certain duties of the military service. The institution headed by Argishti Kyaramyan also videotaped and distributed the remorse of two servicemen.
We have received information that the texts of repentance were preceded by attempts at violence and threats. There are even rumors that military personnel were severely beaten. We asked Colonel Mihran Makhsudyan, a participant in the Tavush struggle, about that.
“I can’t say, everything is possible… but I myself sent the contract workers back, I told them that the step you took is wrong now, you are in the service, go back, they came after the violence to express their support for the people of Tavush, I said Go, I don’t need your support, go, do your service. I know that a criminal case has been initiated, but I don’t know the details, I don’t know, only one or two people, when I was a former commander. They came spontaneously.”
More details in today’s issue of the newspaper
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