Protesters threaten revenge for massacre in Armenian village

The trial in a case on the murder of four persons in the village of Shamiram has been going on for more than four years, relatives of the victims have stated at a protest action. The protestors called on the authorities of Armenia to intervene in the case and expedite the investigation. The relatives of the victims warn that if a guilty person is not convicted, blood feud is not ruled out.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on August 1, 2017, participants of a mourning ceremony were shot and killed in the village of Shamiram in the Aragatsotn Region. Three persons were killed on the spot, and five others were wounded. Later, one of the wounded died in a hospital. According to the investigators’ version, in 2013, Telman Kalashyan lent five entrepreneurs – the Khudoyan brothers – 75,000 US dollars. Within two years, they returned 45,000 US dollars, but then they went bankrupt and could not pay off the debt. Upon learning that relatives and friends of the Khudoyan brothers attended a funeral ceremony in the village of Shamiram, Telman Kalashyan arrived at the mourning ceremony building and opened fire there, investigators suggest.

Today, the relatives of those killed in the Yazidi village of Shamiram have held the protest action dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Dead, which is marked on August 1 in accordance with the Yazidi traditions.

Injured Faizer Ozmalyan said that he had got a through wound to his lung. “My own uncle, 82 years old, my two cousins from the maternal and paternal sides, as well as a fellow villager were killed. They were all sitting in different places, which indicates his (attacker) readiness to kill anyone. None of us was aware of the attacker’s money dispute with one of our distant relatives,” Faizer Ozmalyan stated.

Five years have passed since the murder, but the case is still being considered in court, the man notes. “We demand justice in order to avoid blood feud. People are already losing their patience,” the protester said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 1, 2022 at 03:43 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.