Refusal to give Permyakov out to Armenian party may strain situation in Gyumri, locals believe

Possible failure of the Russian party to extradite Valery Permyakov, charged with the shooting of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri, to the Armenian law enforcement agencies, will deteriorate the situation in the city. This opinion was expressed by local residents. They insist on their demand and don’t rule out holding protest actions, 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 on January 19, he died. A Russian regular soldier Valery Permyakov was arrested as a suspect of committing the massacre. He is kept under reinforced guard in the territory of the 102^nd Russian military base. On January 21, Armenian investigators interrogated him at the base. According to the Investigating Committee (IC) of Armenia, Permyakov officially admitted the charges against him.

The trial in the case against Valery Permyakov is to be conducted in Armenia at the garrison military court located in the territory of the Russian military base. The decision was made on the basis of the bilateral agreement on the status of the Russian military base. All materials collected by Armenian investigators are to be transferred to the Russian law enforcers. The parties also agree on a joint indictment on the basis of the Russian law, the "Interfax" reports on February 3 with reference to its sources.

The Gyumri residents interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent have reacted negatively to the above information. The local residents believe that the investigation and the trial should be held in Armenia and under the jurisdiction of the Armenian justice.

Russia will make a wise decision in case if Valery Permyakov is extradited to the Armenian side, while the Russia's refusal to the request for the extradition of the defendant will deteriorate the situation. This opinion has been expressed by activist Karen Petrosyan, a resident of Gyumri.

According to Levon Barsegyan, a board member of the community of Gyumri, the head of the Gyumri Press Club "Asparez", the Russian side is likely to extradite Valery Permyakov to the Armenian law enforcement agencies, since it realizes that the refusal to do it will deteriorate the Armenians' attitude towards Russia.

Meanwhile, the Gyumri residents continue collecting signatures with the demand to extradite Valery Permyakov to the Armenian law enforcement agencies. The Gyumri residents are consistent in their demand, and they do not exclude holding protests and marches to address this issue. This was stated by Armen Nersisyan, one of the initiators of the action, at the press conference held on February 3.

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