Investigators treat soldier's death in NKR as suicide

Eric Arutyunyan, a conscript of the Defence Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has died on the way to hospital, investigators have reported today.

The incident occurred yesterday, on November 4, in one of the units of the Defence Army in the south-eastern section of the contact line with Azerbaijani troops.

Co-servicemen have found the 19-year-old Private Arutyunyan in the arsenal of the military unit, says the statement posted today on the website of the NKR's Ministry of Defence (MoD) (translated by the "Caucasian Knot").

Eric Arutyunyan died before they managed to bring him to hospital. A case has been initiated under the article of "incitement to suicide", the "News-Armenia" has quoted today the Investigating Committee of Armenia.

Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" has reported that based on the outcomes of 2018, human rights defenders drew attention to the increase in non-combat losses in the armies of NKR and Armenia. In the first half of 2019, the Prosecutor's Office attributed 18 deaths to non-combat losses, by recording, inter alia, one suicide case.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 5, 2019 at 10:52 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.