ArmInfo.Over the past year, the requirements for draftees in Armenia, including regarding their state of health, have increased significantly. On November 11, Deputy Minister of Defense Gabriel Balayan stated this in an interview with reporters, pointing out that there has been a recent increase in the total number of draftees.
Answering a question about the deaths of military personnel in military units investigated under the article "Incitement to suicide", Balayan noted that all persons responsible for these crimes are held accountable. In response to the fact that during the current year 9 such cases were recorded, Balayan noted that over the same period last year their number was 10.
<The salvation of even one life is the result of hard work. Our department extremely negatively evaluates these cases. Unfortunately, in units conducting combat duty, one cannot be completely immune from this. I assess this as an omission, and we have a lot to do to prevent this phenomenon>, he said. As regards the relatives of the victims often voicing suspicions that in reality there was a murder, rather than suicide, Balayan, without going into details about specific cases, noted: "Based on my information, I exclude this. But in criminal cases, perhaps new circumstances will be clarified. Therefore, I do not want to make comments that may impede the investigation>.