22:40, 30 January 2012

In Nagorno-Karabakh, Lance Corporal suspected of murdering soldier on combat post

Lance Corporal Khachatur Sarkisyan, a serviceman of a regular term, is suspected of murdering Pailak Shakhnazaryan, a regular term soldier, in an army unit of Nagorno-Karabakh. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Armenia.

According to the MoD, the investigatory service of the MoD has initiated a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 104 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (murder).

Pailak Shakhnazaryan perished on January 27 at about 3:05 a.m. local time as a result of a gunshot wound in combat position, the "Epress.am" reports.

According to information, which was not confirmed officially, at night the colleague of the sleeping Shakhnazaryan jokingly smeared face of the latter with toothpaste. When the soldier woke up, he began to ascertain the situation with the joker. That infuriated Lance Corporal Khachatur Sarkisyan, who shot in Shakhnazaryan, the "Tert.am" reports.

The position of the suspect himself and his version of the incident are still not available.