Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Bill Takes Up Unsolved Case Of U.S. Teacher Killed In Armenia

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Bill Takes Up Unsolved Case Of U.S. Teacher Killed In Armenia

    BILL TAKES UP UNSOLVED CASE OF U.S. TEACHER KILLED IN ARMENIA

    AP Worldstream
    May 18, 2006

    On the Net:
    Joshua Haglund Memorial Peace Scholarship Fund:
    http://www.joshuahaglund.com

    A bill introduced in the U.S. House Wednesday is aimed at finding
    answers about the unsolved death of an American teacher two years
    ago in Armenia.

    Joshua Haglund, 33, of Minnesota, was killed less than a year after he
    began teaching English at Armenia's state-run Linguistics University
    through an exchange program overseen by the United States.

    The bill introduced by Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum
    seeks answers in the death and authorizes $250,000 (A194,069) for
    a scholarship fund in Haglund's name at the University of Minnesota
    for study abroad and diversity training programs.

    Haglund was found fatally beaten on May 17, 2003, on the street
    outside his apartment in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.

    Before moving to Armenia, Haglund taught in inner-city schools in
    the United States as well as in Japan, India and Puerto Rico.

    Haglund's family went to Armenia five months after he died, hired an
    Armenian lawyer and has been in frequent contact with the U.S.

    Embassy in Yerevan. The family also asked for help from McCollum and
    Minnesota's two U.S. senators.

    "Somebody knows who did it," said Haglund's mother, Maxine
    Haglund-Blommer.

    "I don't know if I'll see it (resolved) in my lifetime, but maybe
    my kids will," she said. "Maybe someday as those people get older,
    their conscience will bother them."

    Haglund's family thinks he may have been the victim of a hate crime
    because he was gay. Armenia has a strong stigma against homosexuality.

    "The Haglund family deserves justice, and the Armenian and American
    governments need to continue working together to resolve the
    investigation into Joshua's death," McCollum said.

    "The bill is also an opportunity to honor Joshua's life. He selflessly
    dedicated his life to peace and cross-cultural understanding,
    becoming an educator who invested his energy in students around the
    world. Encouraging others to reach out with a helping hand is a truly
    fitting legacy for Joshua," she said.

    Haglund's family has established the Joshua Haglund Memorial Peace
    Scholarship Fund at the University of Minnesota, to "continue his
    vision, through love and education, to make the world a better place,
    one person at a time."
Working...
X