Armenia hosts procession to honour memory of military doctor, who died after fight in "Harsnaqar" Restaurant

In Yerevan, a mourning procession was held, which participants paid tribute to the memory of military doctor Vage Avetyan, who died after the incident at the "Harsnaqar" Restaurant and was buried today. NGO activists demanded to deprive Ruben Airapetyan, the owner of the "Harsnaqar" Restaurant, of the parliamentary mandate.

More than 100 persons attend mourning procession

Participants of the mourning procession paid tribute to the memory of the military doctor and then went along the central streets of Yerevan to the building of the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia, demanding to punish the persons, responsible for the death of Vage Avetyan.

In total, the action was attended by more than 100 persons including representatives of political parties "Heritage", Armenian National Congress (ANC), "Dashnaktsutyun", "Prosperous Armenia", and the movement "Sardarapat".

The procession was organized by the public initiative groups "Let's not be silent", "We demand to punish all the persons, responsible for the incident at the 'Harsnaqar' Restaurant" and other groups.

Vage Avetyan was buried in the common cemetery with all honours. At the event, top-ranking officials were represented by Yuri Khachaturov, Chief of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Seiran Oganyan, Armenian Minister of Defence, visited the house of the deceased military doctor to express his condolences.

Ruben Airapetyan, the deputy of the National Assembly, who owns the "Harsnaqar'' Restaurant, when asked by journalists to comment on the situation, assured that ''he would make a statement in several days.''

Representatives of the initiative group plan to organize a protest action near the building of the National Assembly on July 4. Till present, the event has not been sanctioned. Representatives of other public organizations also plan to join the action.

The ''Harsnaqar'' Restaurant works in its usual mode. And on June 30, on the day of the action in the memory of Vage Avetyan, when more than 200 persons lit candles in front of the "Harsnaqar'' Restaurant, a wedding was celebrated at the restaurant.

In connection with the incident at the "Harsnaqar'' Restaurant, a number of political forces, including the Armenian National Congress and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) "Dashnaktsutyun", demanded that the authorities should express its estimation of the incident and punish the persons, responsible for death of the military doctor, to the fullest extent of the law.

Deputy Manvel Badeyan, the representative of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, described the public response to the incident at the "Harsnaqar'' Restaurant as quite healthy. However, the member of the Republican Party said that he was surprised by the position of a number of media, claiming that without the permission of Ruben Airapetyan, staff members of his restaurant would not beat their clients.

"Case of security guards should be regulated by law"

The incident in the "Harsnaqar" Restaurant gives rise to the issue of body guards of the deputies. This was stated by political consultant Karen Kocharyan, Director of the "P.Art" PR Company.

In his turn, Karen Andreasyan, Armenian Ombudsman, stated that at the stage of the preliminary investigation, the Ombudsman has no right to interfere with the process and to give any estimates.

"I, as a private person, support all that actions. However, I refrain from making estimations on the criminal case. I can only say that the balance of fear in the country has been seriously disrupted, and the case in the 'Harsnaqar' Restaurant represents a heavy weight on the scales of fear, when we are all afraid of people with strong muscles. And this fear is invincible until the normal legal reforms are carried out," Karen Andreasyan expressed his point of view.

Let us remind you that in Yerevan, staff members of the Investigatory Division of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) detained Lieutenant Colonel Vardan Samvelyan, who tried to blow up the "Harsnaqar" Restaurant. According to the investigators, "he threatened to explode the restaurant, in which the military doctor, his close friend, had been severely beaten."

"However, after long negotiations with the law enforcement officers, Lieutenant Colonel retracted his intentions," a staff member of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated.