Vartan Kochyan dies in SIZO

Vartan Kochyan, accused of murdering court marshals in Sochi, died in a SIZO (pre-trial prison), his advocate Alexander Burnaev reports today.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on June 9, 2021, junior court marshal 31-year-old Albert Agozyan and court marshal executor 30-year-old Andranik Matevosyan were shot dead in Adler. According to the investigators’ version, Vartan Kochyan, a 60-year-old resident of the Adler District of Sochi, opened fire from a hunting rifle when the court marshals came to evict him from a building recognized as unsanctioned construction. Vartan Kochyan was detained. He himself reported the murder and surrendered to the police.

Vartan Kochyan died in the SIZO the day before, and the cause of death has not yet been revealed, advocate Alexander Burnaev reports. “I know for sure that the man suffered from a severe heart disease. Doctors were preparing the documents for a heart surgery. For the last ten days he felt very unwell,” said the advocate as quoted by the “Interfax”.

According to Alexander Burnaev, relatives of Vartan Kochyan “will insist on checking the circumstances of the death and will file a complaint to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).” “The Vartan Kochyan’s relatives believe that no necessary medical care was provided to the man,” the advocate emphasized.

Investigators have already begun checking the circumstances of the Vartan Kochyan’s death. A forensic medical examination has been scheduled, after which a procedural decision will be made, the regional news agency (RIA) “Novosti” reports with reference to the ICRF’s Department for the Krasnodar Territory.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 18, 2022 at 12:27 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.