Artsakh woman who lost two sons in 2023 protests after fraud over their gravestones

Panorama.am

An Artsakh Armenian woman who lost both of her sons during the September 2023 exodus of Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) held a protest outside the Armenian government building on Thursday, claiming she was defrauded of $12,000 intended for their gravestones.

Alla Stepanyan said the money, raised by selling her deceased son’s car, was given to a man identified as Arman Nahapetyan to commission white marble headstones for her sons’ graves at the Yerablur Military Pantheon. She said the funds were taken but the headstones were never delivered.

“I wanted my sons’ gravestones to be made of white marble,” Stepanyan told reporters. “The money was taken, but the headstones are not there.”

Stepanyan said she had appealed to the Justice Ministry, which advised her to turn to the Prosecutor’s Office. She is seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, and has urged authorities not to delay a court hearing scheduled for January 20.

Court sessions in the case have repeatedly been postponed, she said, adding that public defenders assigned to the suspect had withdrawn from the case. Nahapetyan remains at liberty.

“If the hearing is postponed again on January 20, I will begin a sit-in protest,” Stepanyan said.

Speaking alongside her, the boys’ grandmother said the family was not seeking punishment, only the return of the money. “We lost our children, our home and homeland,” she said. “They stayed and defended it to the end.”