Incident in Gyumri to be investigated by Armenia, local residents believe

Residents of the town of Gyumri demand to extradite Valery Permyakov detained on suspicion of mass murder of Avetisyan family members to the Armenian side.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Valery Permyakov, a soldier from the Russian military base, is suspected of the attack. He was detained on January 12, and he has already confessed to the murder.

The Gyumri residents believe that only in Armenia, the killer will be adequately punished for the crime he committed.

Most of the Gyumri residents emphasize their good attitude to soldiers of the Russian military base. According to some people, in case if Russia does not allow Armenia to judge Valery Permyakov, there is a risk that the attitude of the Gyumri residents to the Russian military base will deteriorate sharply.

The Gyumri residents note that this is not the first crime committed by Russian military men. In 1999, two Russian military men opened fire, while being in a state of alcoholic intoxication, and as a result, two persons were killed.

Gagik Ambaryan, an Armenian political analyst, sees one of the causes of such incidents in the fact that the Russian military commanders fail to pay sufficient attention to the selection of recruits. According to Gagik Ambaryan, the problem is that soldiers of Russia, who committed crimes in Armenia, went unpunished.

Earlier, the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has stated with reference to the Russian Constitution that Valery Permyakov will not be extradited to the Armenian law enforcement agencies, "since he is a Russian citizen and is under the jurisdiction of the investigating authorities of the Russian Federation."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.