Arayik Khandoyan, a member of the Sasna Tsrer armed group of Armenia, has passed away.

Varuzhan Avetisyan, another member of this group, on Wednesday informed about the aforesaid on Facebook.

Khandoyan was a Karabakh War veteran, and he was awarded several medals and decorations. But as a sign of protest against the policies of the authorities of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR), he had returned these awards.

In protest of the then authorities, the Sasna Tsrer armed group took over a police patrol regiment building in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, held hostages, but later surrendered in July 2016. Three police officers were killed during the two-week standoff.

Arayik Khandoyan was arrested on July 17, 2016, on charges of taking over the abovementioned police patrol regiment building, holding hostages, and using weapons and ammunition.