YEREVAN, MAY 31, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Appeal Court of Criminal and Military Cases (chairman - judge Mher Arghamanian) on May 30 sentenced Razmik Sargsian, Musa Serobian and Arayik Zalyan, who were charged with murder of their two fellow-servicemen, to life imprisonment. Previously they had been sentenced to 15 years in prison each by the court of first instance of Syunik marz. They were sentenced under Article 104 Part 2 Points 1, 5 and 7 of the RA Criminal Code - murder of two or more persons with particular cruelty by a group of persons or an organized group. The court took a decision to drop charges under Article 104 Part 2 point 10 - murder out of hooliganism. The Appeal Court also ruled that the charges brought by the court of first instance were correctly qualified. The Appeal Court considered the charges brought against the above mentioned persons as completely confirmed, which is proven by several testimonies of the accused persons, testimonies of witnesses, as well as by the evidence obtained during the investigation into this case and its court examination. According to the Appeal Court, the fact that the accused withdrew their testimonies and denied the charges brought against them was due to their intention to avoid criminal responsibility. The court also considered as unfounded Razmik Sargsian's statement that he made a confession under torture: he claimed that he had his jaw broken as a result of a beating. According to the court's ruling, the fact that his statement does not correspond to reality is evident from his testimonies recorded on video. According to the ruling, on December 24, 2003, Razmik Sargsian, Musa Serobian and Arayik Zalyan argued with their fellow-servicemen Roman Eghiazarian and Hovsep Mkrtumian, killed them and threw their bodies into a channel to conceal their crime. During the court examinaition, the accused persons denied charges brought against them, particularly, Razmik Sargsian went on a long hunger strike in protest. The defence expressed their disagreement on the ruling and said that they intend to appeal to the RA Cassation Court of Criminal and Military Cases against the court's ruling.

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