Gyumri Board of Elders urges General Prosecutor to seek transfer of Avetisyan family's murder case to Armenia

The Gyumri Board of Elders has urged Gevorg Kostanyan, the General Prosecutor of Armenia, to take steps to transfer the investigation into the murder of the Avetisyan family under the jurisdiction of the Armenian law enforcement agencies, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at night on January 12, in Gyumri, six members of the Avetisyan family were assassinated. The only survivor of the attack – the six-month-old Sergey Avetisyan – was hospitalized in critical condition and underwent his treatment in Yerevan. On January 19, the baby's condition has deteriorated and he died. A Russian regular soldier Valery Permyakov is arrested as a suspect of committing the massacre. On January 15, an action was held in the city demanding to give Permyakov out to the Armenian justice; it ended with riots and clashes with the police, as a result of which 14 people suffered.

According to the appeal adopted at an extraordinary meeting of the Gyumri Board of Elders, the criminal case is to be transferred to the Armenian investigators in order to relieve the tension in the society, which could be followed by serious consequences.

The Gyumri Board of Elders has also appealed to residents of Gyumri and urged them to show self-control.

Let us remind you that on January 20, an official from the Armenian government announced that the proceedings in the criminal case would be held in the Armenian territory, but it would be held by the Military Court of Russia. Earlier, an official from the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has stated that the suspect will not be extradited to the Armenian law enforcement agencies, since he is a citizen of Russia.

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