Armenianow.com
July 16, 2004
Two Months, No Answers: Haglund family says “someone has gotten away with
murder”
By John Hughes ArmeniaNow reporter
The family of an American murdered in Armenia two months ago says it remains
“determined to find answers and have justice served”.
Investigators in Armenia, however, are giving no information on whether such
answers exist or whether justice is near.
Joshua Haglund, a citizen of the United States from Wisconsin, was stabbed
to death outside his Yerevan apartment in the evening of May 17. He is
believed to be the first American murdered in Armenia.
Haglund, 33, was in Armenia as part of a U.S. State Department language
fellow program. He was teaching English at Brusov Linguistic University and
was killed just days before he was scheduled to end his service in Armenia.
Reached at her home in Wisconsin, Haglund’s mother Maxine Haglund-Blommer
told ArmeniaNow that her son held high hopes for his work in Armenia and
talked about “the excitement and possibilities Armenia had in its future and
he wanted to be a part of it all.”
It happens, too, that Joshua Haglund was gay. And, privately, expatriate and
Armenian acquaintances are saying he was killed by those who opposed his
lifestyle.
ArmeniaNow asked investigators whether Haglund’s death was being considered
a hate crime. Police would give no details of the investigation nor say
whether a suspect has been identified nor how many people have been
questioned.
Members of Armenia’s gay community have privately complained that police
used Haglund’s murder investigation as an excuse to intimidate those known
or thought to be gay.
At least one man was held in confinement for several days. Another says he
was called to a police station and when he asked what crime he was being
charged with, an investigator said: “Don’t you think being a faggot is a
crime?” He also alleges that police told him they did not care whether the
law protected homosexuality, and that, in their precinct, they were the law.
“Josh was openly gay in America and his family supported him,”
Haglund-Blommer said.
She says she doesn’t understand the relevancy of her son’s sexuality to his
death because: “It isn’t important what my son’s sexual orientation was but
rather that he was a person that wanted to make a difference in the world
through teaching and travels.”
But the mother also says his family “doesn’t know what it is like to be gay
in Armenia.”
“Joshua would never intentionally put himself in danger,” Maxine
Haglund-Blommer said. “If this was a hate crime, we don’t know. But we sure
would like to find out.”
His mother says that many of her son’s friends and colleagues in Armenia
have contacted her over the past two months.
“They don’t understand how or why this could happen,” Haglund-Blommer said.
“Several have said they don’t have great hope or confidence in the legal
process in Armenia.”
Haglund-Blommer says Haglund’s brothers and sister are “very discouraged and
disappointed” with the investigation and that the family is now looking into
hiring a victim representative in Armenia.
“We want some answers to this senseless death,” she said. “Our son and
brother is gone and someone has gotten away with this murder.”