Court extends pretrial  detention for defendant in Azat village  military barracks fire case

ArmInfo.  An Armenian court has extended the pretrial detention of Captain Yeghishe Hakobyan, a defendant in the case involving the fatal fire at a military barracks in Azat village, for an additional three months. The ruling was handed down during today's session by Judge Vardan Harutyunyan, the  Court of General Jurisdiction of First Instance of the Gegharkunik  Region.  "Having heard the arguments from both sides, the court has  decided to extend the detention of the accused, Yeghishe Hakobyan,  for another three months," the judge announced during the hearing.

Recall, 15 servicemen were killed overnight on January 19 during a  fire in the building housing an engineering and sapper company at a  military base located in the village of Azat, Gegharkunik Region. An  officer and four conscripts sustained injuries in the incident.  According to the authorities, the fire broke out due to a violation  of fire safety protocols. The preliminary investigation established  that after midnight on January 19, 2023, an officer of the  engineering and sapper company of an Armenian Ministry of Defense  military unit violated established procedures at House No. 20, 1st  Street in Azat village, by attempting to light a stove using  gasoline, which triggered the blaze in the barracks. Due to the lack  of proper fire protection measures, the servicemen inside the shelter  were unable to extinguish the fire. Furthermore, the absence of an  emergency exit prevented them from breaking through the iron bars  fixed to the windows.  Following the tragedy, the entire command  staff of the Second Army Corps was dismissed. Five individuals are  currently being prosecuted as defendants in connection with the case.