Tweet
Big News Network, Australia
Jan 20 2015
Russian Soldier Will Be Tried In Armenia, Reportedly By Russian Court
RFE Tuesday 20th January, 2015
Russia says a soldier accused of killing seven members of a single
family in Armenia will be tried on Armenian soil, but media reports
say the trial will be conducted by a Russian military court.
The January 20 announcement is unlikely to appease protesters who have
demanded the suspect in an attack that stunned the country be
transferred to Armenian custody and tried in the former Soviet
republic.
Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said the
investigation and criminal proceedings against suspect Valery
Permyakov "will be held exclusively on Armenian soil."
However, he said that the proceedings will be conducted in accordance
with international law, Russian legislation, and agreements between
Russia and Armenia governing Russia's military base in the city of
Gyumri, where Permyakov was stationed and is now being held.
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the Kavkaz-uzel.ru website, citing
Armenian government sources, said the trial would be conducted by a
Russian military court in Armenia.
Authorities say Permyakov has confessed to the killings, which sparked
angry protests last week in Yerevan and Gyumri by Armenians demanding
he be transferred to Armenian custody.
Russian authorities have said that according to the Russian
Constitution, Russian citizens suspected of committing crimes in other
countries cannot be extradited to such countries -- a policy President
Vladimir Putin has described in other circumstances by saying that
Russia does not "give up its own."
Armenian protesters clash with riot police on January 15 near the
Russian Consulate in Gyumri, where the family was killed in their
home.
The Investigative Committee's announcement coincided with a
candle-lighting ceremony commemorating Seryozha Avetisian, a
6-month-old boy who was stabbed in the attack and died in a Yerevan
hospital on January 19.
He had been the sole survivor of the attack: His parents, 2-year-old
sister, aunt, and grandparents were found dead in their home in Gyumri
on January 12.
Both Russian and Armenian officials have made soothing statements in
an effort to ensure it does not threaten their ties or lead to
large-scale street protests in Armenia.
In a telephone conversation with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on
January 18, Putin expressed his condolences to the Avetisians'
relatives and the Armenian nation and promised a swift investigation
and appropriate punishment for the massacre.
The killings are testing ties between Russia and Armenia, which has
just joined the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union and hosts the base
that is Moscow's biggest foothold in the strategic South Caucasus.
For Armenia, which is flanked by longtime foes Azerbaijan and Turkey,
regional giant Russia is a potential protector and a trade partner.
But government opponents and other Armenians chafe at Moscow's
powerful influence over the small, poor, landlocked country.
After the attack, for which no possible motive has been publicly
revealed, Permyakov was detained by a Russian border-guard unit at the
Armenian-Turkish border.
Russian media reports quoted a Russian Armed Forces General Staff
official on January 20 as saying that conscripts -- like Permyakov --
will no longer be stationed at the Gyumri base as of 2016.
Instead, only military personnel serving on contractual basis will be
stationed there, according to the report, which said the change had
been planned before the killings in Gyumri.
With reporting by Interfax
http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/229533821
Jan 20 2015
Russian Soldier Will Be Tried In Armenia, Reportedly By Russian Court
RFE Tuesday 20th January, 2015
Russia says a soldier accused of killing seven members of a single
family in Armenia will be tried on Armenian soil, but media reports
say the trial will be conducted by a Russian military court.
The January 20 announcement is unlikely to appease protesters who have
demanded the suspect in an attack that stunned the country be
transferred to Armenian custody and tried in the former Soviet
republic.
Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said the
investigation and criminal proceedings against suspect Valery
Permyakov "will be held exclusively on Armenian soil."
However, he said that the proceedings will be conducted in accordance
with international law, Russian legislation, and agreements between
Russia and Armenia governing Russia's military base in the city of
Gyumri, where Permyakov was stationed and is now being held.
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the Kavkaz-uzel.ru website, citing
Armenian government sources, said the trial would be conducted by a
Russian military court in Armenia.
Authorities say Permyakov has confessed to the killings, which sparked
angry protests last week in Yerevan and Gyumri by Armenians demanding
he be transferred to Armenian custody.
Russian authorities have said that according to the Russian
Constitution, Russian citizens suspected of committing crimes in other
countries cannot be extradited to such countries -- a policy President
Vladimir Putin has described in other circumstances by saying that
Russia does not "give up its own."
Armenian protesters clash with riot police on January 15 near the
Russian Consulate in Gyumri, where the family was killed in their
home.
The Investigative Committee's announcement coincided with a
candle-lighting ceremony commemorating Seryozha Avetisian, a
6-month-old boy who was stabbed in the attack and died in a Yerevan
hospital on January 19.
He had been the sole survivor of the attack: His parents, 2-year-old
sister, aunt, and grandparents were found dead in their home in Gyumri
on January 12.
Both Russian and Armenian officials have made soothing statements in
an effort to ensure it does not threaten their ties or lead to
large-scale street protests in Armenia.
In a telephone conversation with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on
January 18, Putin expressed his condolences to the Avetisians'
relatives and the Armenian nation and promised a swift investigation
and appropriate punishment for the massacre.
The killings are testing ties between Russia and Armenia, which has
just joined the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union and hosts the base
that is Moscow's biggest foothold in the strategic South Caucasus.
For Armenia, which is flanked by longtime foes Azerbaijan and Turkey,
regional giant Russia is a potential protector and a trade partner.
But government opponents and other Armenians chafe at Moscow's
powerful influence over the small, poor, landlocked country.
After the attack, for which no possible motive has been publicly
revealed, Permyakov was detained by a Russian border-guard unit at the
Armenian-Turkish border.
Russian media reports quoted a Russian Armed Forces General Staff
official on January 20 as saying that conscripts -- like Permyakov --
will no longer be stationed at the Gyumri base as of 2016.
Instead, only military personnel serving on contractual basis will be
stationed there, according to the report, which said the change had
been planned before the killings in Gyumri.
With reporting by Interfax
http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/229533821