A shameful incident occurred in the Military Police of the Yerevan garrison of the Armenian armed forces on March 14. A group of soldiers fighting in one of the units was brought here and severely beaten, "Youth Initiative" We will not keep quiet" NGO said, Armenia Today reported.
According to the NGO, the head of the Military Police of the Yerevan garrison R. Nersisyan, the chief of criminal investigation department A. Vopanyan and investigator A. Avakian beat the soldiers.
Soldier Arsen from Sevan (last name is not called) was injured most of all. After beating he was sent back to the unit. They told him not to tell anything and sent him home later, "Youth initiative" said.
"The commander's behavior causes aversion," the authors of the statement said. "He agreed to this dirty game not to aggravate relations with the Military Police. It is symptomatic that they try to attract Arsen to the case about the incident only as a witness."
Beating of soldiers is a common phenomenon in the Armenian army, the statement said. It is especially prevalent in military units in the territory of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Only boys without any support are beaten," the statement said. "And even if high-ranking military in the General Staff want to change something, but can not do anything, let them recognize their own powerlessness and the fact that they do not control situation. If there are such cases in Yerevan, one can imagine that what happens in remote parts of the military units and at the offices of the Military Police."