Legality of inquiry format of Gyumri massacre causes doubts among Armenian lawyers

The joint inquiry conducted by investigating authorities of Russia and Armenia into the murder of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri has no legal force, Armenian lawyers believe. Such a scheme would allow the defendant to challenge the legality of the investigation at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), said the lawyer Alexander Sirunyan. Meanwhile, the absence of a coherent official version gives rise to plenty of versions about the reasons of the murder, said the experts questioned by the "Caucasian Knot".

Let us remind you that Alexander Bastrykin, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), promised that the trial of Permyakov would be held in Armenia, but it will be run by the military court of Russia. On January 20, the heads of the Investigating Committees (ICs) of Armenia and Russia signed an agreement to set up a joint coordinating headquarters of 10 persons, representing both ICs and criminologists.

In the opinion of Alexander Sirunyan, the work of the above headquarters is outside the law. The arrest of Permyakov was also illegal because "the arrested persons are kept in prison, where conditions are better," said the lawyer.

His colleague Ovannes Kocharyan adds that a joint inquiry by investigators from different countries is not provided for by any international document.

Residents of Gyumri are in a stressful situation, so that, despite the absence of rallies, one day may go out to protests – people are just waiting for the disclosure of the crime, said Levon Barsegyan, a member of the Board of Elders of the Mayoralty of Gyumri.

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