The Deputy Chief of the Police Patrol Service Regiment of Yerevan had vowed as all police officers to be devoted to the Constitutional order of the RA, to protect the motherland, to keep the servile and state secrets; to carry out the service responsibilities in fair and impartial manner and to perform the official duties with diligence. Colonel Arthur Vanoyan kept his oath at the expense of life.
On 17 July, a group of armed persons entered the territory of Police Patrol Service Regiment of the RA. They threatened the policemen with weapons and urged to surrender. Colonel Vanoyan did not obey and was shot dead as a result of crossfire.
Today, on 20 July, the family members. relatives and police representatives buried Artur Vanoyan in Abovyan city. He was posthumously awarded a number of medals.
Arthur Vanoyan’s neighbors said that he always tried to support not only the family members, but also the neighbors. “He treated everyone alike and was friends with everyone,” remembered the neighbors.
Arthur Vanoyan also participated in the Artsakh war, said one of his friends Melikset Manukyan. ” I knew him from Abovian, but in 1994 we were together in combat positions. he always kept his oath.”
Today, the protesters that gathered in Khorenatsi Street to support the armed group kept a minute of silence in memory of fallen police officers.
Gevorg Tosunyan
