Civilnet
Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s office has released a copy of a letter received from Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, confirming that Chaika’s office has received and taken under consideration the Armenian side’s request to transfer the Russian soldier accused in the murder of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri on January 12 to the Armenian side.
The photocopy of Chaika’s letter was released by the Armenian Prosecutor General’s office most probably to put to rest rumors circulating in the media that Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan had not sent an official letter to the Russian Prosecutor General. In a statement, the Prosecutor General's office said they had released the photocopy to “avoid the misunderstanding created regarding the request made by the Republic of Armenia’s Prosecutor’s office.”
In the early morning hours of January 12, six members of the Avetisyan family were killed in their sleep, their six-month-old infant Seryozha survived but died a week later in hospital from his injuries. The main suspect in the crime, Russian soldier Valery Permyakov was apprehended trying to cross the Armenia-Turkey border, allegedly by Russian border guards. He is currently being held at the 102nd Russian base in Gyumri.
Copy of letter sent to Armenian authorities from Russia's Prosecutor General's Office.
Following Permyakov’s arrest, protests erupted in Gyumri and Yerevan demanding he be handed over to Armenian law enforcement bodies. In response to these demands, Armenia’s Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan said that the Russian Constitution does not permit the extradition of its civilians to foreign governments. This caused an uproar across the country and on January 14 and 15 demonstrations took place demanding Permyakov’s handover. The Prosecutor General gave a “man’s promise” that he would write to his Russian counterpart about this request.
On February 3, the Prosecutor General’s office issued a statement that Kostanyan had appealed to Russia’s Prosecutor General. However, there was much speculation as to whether Kostanyan had written the letter or not.
On February 23, the relatives of the Avetisyan family of Gyumri met with the District Prosecutor of the Shirak marz Raffi Aslanyan demanding that Armenia’s Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan come to Gyumri to meet with them. They said that forty days after the murders, they had yet to receive any clarification regarding the investigation and whether Permyakov would be handed over to Armenian law enforcement bodies. Following that meeting, the relatives of the murdered family issued an ultimatum and announced that they will give Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan one day to come to Gyumri to answer their questions otherwise they will begin a series of protests.
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