Paralympic champion Sargis Stepanyan joins Artsakh ballot initiative

Paralympic arm-wrestling champion Sargis Stepanyan, a retired Armenia army major, has joined a signature collection in support of Artsakh launched by the Hayakve ballot initiative.

The Hayakve initiative started last week collecting signatures in support of its amendments to Armenia’s Criminal Code which would make the surrender of Artsakh to Azerbaijan and the renunciation of the Armenian Genocide recognition campaign crimes punishable by between 10 and 15 years in jail.

The group has to collect at least 50,000 signatures to push the amendments through the parliament.

“Armenian Artsakh can never be part of an artificial state,” Stepanyan wrote on Facebook on Friday.

The retired officer lost both his legs and one arm while retrieving his fallen comrades under Azerbaijani fire in 2014.

He has founded the Armenian National Disability Sports Federation.