Tweet
DECISION TO TRY MURDER CASE IN RUSSIAN COURT IS KREMLIN'S LATEST OUTRAGE AGAINST ARMENIANS
Kyiv Post, Ukraine
April 10 2015
April 10, 2015, 7:02 p.m. | Op-ed -- by Armine Sahakyan
Armine Sahakyan
Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia.
SEE ALSO
Associated Press: Intelligence official warns of Islamic State's
influence in Russia
Russian authorities have decreed that a soldier arrested in the murders
of all seven members of an Armenian family will be tried in a Russian
military court, not in an Armenian court.
The dictate is a slap in the face to the Armenian people.
Thousands of us had demonstrated after the murders in mid-January to
demand that 19-year-old Valeri Permyakov be tried in Armenia. Russian
officials rubbed salt in the wound by declaring that the offense
Permyakov is accused of is a "military crime."
It is nothing of the sort, many Armenians contend.
The murders were committed off Russia's military base at Gyumri,
where Permyakov was stationed, and had nothing to do with any military
matter. Russia's defiance of Armenian popular will in refusing to
hand Permyakov over for trial in Armenia has prompted many of us to
contend that our government's kowtowing to this powerful neighbor
has gone too far.
One thing the skeptics have asked is why the government handed
Permyakov over to Russia in the first place. Armenian border guards
arrested him the day after the murders as he was trying to slip across
the border into Turkey.
Rather than surrender the soldier to Armenian police, the border
guards gave him to Russian authorities. He is now in confinement on
the base at Gyumri, where Russian authorities said he will be tried.
Critics of Permyakov's handover to the Russians want to know who in
the Armenian government authorized it. They also fault the government
for not admitting it made a mistake and demanding that the soldier
be returned to Armenian jurisdiction.
Instead, the critics contend, it has tiptoed around the issue of where
Permyakov would be tried out of fear of angering the Kremlin. Moscow
has promised that Permyakov, one of 3,000 soldiers stationed at its
northern Armenian base, will face the full measure of justice.
The solider is accused of the off-base killing of a husband and wife,
their two toddlers -- a girl 2 and a boy 6 months -- the couple's
parents and a sister in-law. To try to assuage the anger of Armenia's
public, Russian officials made conciliatory statements in the weeks
after the murders, although the first ones didn't come until several
days after the crime.
President Vladimir Putin even apologized about the atrocity in a
phone call to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
Now it appears that Russian authorities were intent on trying Permyakov
in a Russian court all along, and were just letting Armenians' anger
simmer down before announcing it.Those who wanted the soldier tried
in Armenia feared that a Russian court would be too lenient with him,
perhaps freeing him after he'd served only a few years.
One reason some Armenians think Russia decided from the start to
try Permyakov in a Russian court is that few major Russian news
organizations covered the murders in the days immediately after
they occurred.
Because those media are closely aligned with the Russian government,
Armenian skeptics think their lack of coverage was a sign the soldier
would be tried in Russia and get off easy.
Another bad sign about what the trial venue would be was that the
Armenian media was timid about covering the story, according to Levon
Barseghyan of the Gyumri-based Asbarez Club of Journalists.Armenian
television networks "with large audiences" were "extremely cautious
in covering the developments," even though they knew Armenians were
thirsting for news about the story, Barseghyan said.
The reason for the timidity, he alleged, was Armenian officials'
fear of offending Moscow.Not only are many Armenians critical of our
government's refusal to demand that Permyakov be tried in Armenia,
they are also upset about the government's heavy-handedness with
those demonstrating about the matter.
Thousands of demonstrators flocked to the Russian Consulate in Gyumri
and marched in the streets in the days after the murders to demand
that Permyakov be handed over to Armenian authorities. Police beat
several of them and arrested dozens more.
Critics see the police as being on Russia's side rather than the side
of our people, who are legitimately outraged about Permyakov being
tried in a Russian court.The situation shows that the government
is doing the Kremlin's bidding rather than watching out for its own
people's interests, they say.
Many Armenians have watched the government agree to Russia's demand
that Armenia join the Eurasian Economic Union rather than the European
Union, and take other steps that they see as in Moscow's interest
rather than Armenia's.
The question of Permyakov's trial venue doesn't have the geopolitical
ramifications of joining the European Union or the Eurasian Economic
Union, but it speaks volumes about whether the Armenian government
is standing up for the interests of my fellow citizens or being a
lapdog of Russia.
Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia.
http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/armine-sahakyan-decision-to-try-murder-case-in-russian-court-is-kremlins-latest-outrage-against-armenians-385910.html
Kyiv Post, Ukraine
April 10 2015
April 10, 2015, 7:02 p.m. | Op-ed -- by Armine Sahakyan
Armine Sahakyan
Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia.
SEE ALSO
Associated Press: Intelligence official warns of Islamic State's
influence in Russia
Russian authorities have decreed that a soldier arrested in the murders
of all seven members of an Armenian family will be tried in a Russian
military court, not in an Armenian court.
The dictate is a slap in the face to the Armenian people.
Thousands of us had demonstrated after the murders in mid-January to
demand that 19-year-old Valeri Permyakov be tried in Armenia. Russian
officials rubbed salt in the wound by declaring that the offense
Permyakov is accused of is a "military crime."
It is nothing of the sort, many Armenians contend.
The murders were committed off Russia's military base at Gyumri,
where Permyakov was stationed, and had nothing to do with any military
matter. Russia's defiance of Armenian popular will in refusing to
hand Permyakov over for trial in Armenia has prompted many of us to
contend that our government's kowtowing to this powerful neighbor
has gone too far.
One thing the skeptics have asked is why the government handed
Permyakov over to Russia in the first place. Armenian border guards
arrested him the day after the murders as he was trying to slip across
the border into Turkey.
Rather than surrender the soldier to Armenian police, the border
guards gave him to Russian authorities. He is now in confinement on
the base at Gyumri, where Russian authorities said he will be tried.
Critics of Permyakov's handover to the Russians want to know who in
the Armenian government authorized it. They also fault the government
for not admitting it made a mistake and demanding that the soldier
be returned to Armenian jurisdiction.
Instead, the critics contend, it has tiptoed around the issue of where
Permyakov would be tried out of fear of angering the Kremlin. Moscow
has promised that Permyakov, one of 3,000 soldiers stationed at its
northern Armenian base, will face the full measure of justice.
The solider is accused of the off-base killing of a husband and wife,
their two toddlers -- a girl 2 and a boy 6 months -- the couple's
parents and a sister in-law. To try to assuage the anger of Armenia's
public, Russian officials made conciliatory statements in the weeks
after the murders, although the first ones didn't come until several
days after the crime.
President Vladimir Putin even apologized about the atrocity in a
phone call to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
Now it appears that Russian authorities were intent on trying Permyakov
in a Russian court all along, and were just letting Armenians' anger
simmer down before announcing it.Those who wanted the soldier tried
in Armenia feared that a Russian court would be too lenient with him,
perhaps freeing him after he'd served only a few years.
One reason some Armenians think Russia decided from the start to
try Permyakov in a Russian court is that few major Russian news
organizations covered the murders in the days immediately after
they occurred.
Because those media are closely aligned with the Russian government,
Armenian skeptics think their lack of coverage was a sign the soldier
would be tried in Russia and get off easy.
Another bad sign about what the trial venue would be was that the
Armenian media was timid about covering the story, according to Levon
Barseghyan of the Gyumri-based Asbarez Club of Journalists.Armenian
television networks "with large audiences" were "extremely cautious
in covering the developments," even though they knew Armenians were
thirsting for news about the story, Barseghyan said.
The reason for the timidity, he alleged, was Armenian officials'
fear of offending Moscow.Not only are many Armenians critical of our
government's refusal to demand that Permyakov be tried in Armenia,
they are also upset about the government's heavy-handedness with
those demonstrating about the matter.
Thousands of demonstrators flocked to the Russian Consulate in Gyumri
and marched in the streets in the days after the murders to demand
that Permyakov be handed over to Armenian authorities. Police beat
several of them and arrested dozens more.
Critics see the police as being on Russia's side rather than the side
of our people, who are legitimately outraged about Permyakov being
tried in a Russian court.The situation shows that the government
is doing the Kremlin's bidding rather than watching out for its own
people's interests, they say.
Many Armenians have watched the government agree to Russia's demand
that Armenia join the Eurasian Economic Union rather than the European
Union, and take other steps that they see as in Moscow's interest
rather than Armenia's.
The question of Permyakov's trial venue doesn't have the geopolitical
ramifications of joining the European Union or the Eurasian Economic
Union, but it speaks volumes about whether the Armenian government
is standing up for the interests of my fellow citizens or being a
lapdog of Russia.
Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia.
http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/armine-sahakyan-decision-to-try-murder-case-in-russian-court-is-kremlins-latest-outrage-against-armenians-385910.html