Arsen Ghukasian and several dozen relatives of other missing soldiers rallied there to demand that the Armenian military provide more information about what is being done to ascertain their whereabouts. The protesters repeatedly jostled with riot police as they tried to block the main entrance to the ministry compound.
They were eventually received by Lieutenant-General Eduard Asrian, the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff. They said afterwards that although they are not satisfied with what they heard from Asrian it was agreed that they will hold further meetings with him and other senior military officials.
The Investigative Committee said that Ghukasian, who felt unwell and received medical aid during the September 29 protest, was charged with hooliganism and obstruction of state officials’ activities. It did not elaborate.
The law-enforcement agency also detained another protester, Apijan Gevorgian. But it released him without charge several hours later.
According to the Armenian authorities, 172 Armenian soldiers and 19 civilians went missing during the 2020 war and remain unaccounted for. Some of their families still hope that their loved ones are alive.
Relatives of the missing soldiers have periodically staged protests in Yerevan. In June this year, they blocked a major street in the Armenian capital for two days in protest against the sudden dismissal of Armen Abazian, the National Security Service (NSS) director who also headed a state commission on missing persons, They feared that Abazian’s successor will not try as hard to find out the whereabouts of their loved ones.