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ARMENIA: MURDER CASE STRAINS RELATIONS WITH MOSCOW
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR CRS Issue 765
Jan 26 2015
Mass protests held over Yerevan's failure to try Russian suspect in
an Armenian court.
by Armen Karapetyan
Armenians in the capital Yerevan and the northwestern city of Gyumri
have reacted angrily after the national authorities failed to act
against a Russian serviceman accused of carrying out a brutal gun
massacre.
Instead, the suspect, Private Valery Permyakov, was taken into custody
at the Russian army base where he was deployed, and the military
authorities there are now investigating the crime.
The Armenian authorities' reluctance to investigate themselves and
put the suspect on trial in a domestic court has been criticised by
the national ombudsman and has led to public protests in Yerevan and
in Gyumri, where the attack took place.
According to Armenia's Investigative Committee, Private Permyakov,
a Russian soldier deployed at the 102nd Russian base in Gyumri,
has pleaded guilty to killing seven members of a single family in an
attack on January 12. His victims included a two-year-old girl and
a six-month old boy; the latter initally survived but died from his
injuries in hospital on January 19.
Police found an AK-74 rifle along with 21 cartridges at the crime
scene. They also found a pair of soldiers' boots marked with
Permyakov's name.
According to Raffi Aslanian, prosecutor for the Shirak region where
Gyumri is located, Russian border guards detained Permyakov on January
12 as he tried to cross the border into Turkey, about 15 kilometres
away from Gyumri. The suspect was then handed over to the Russian
military authorities at the base, where he is in custody.
The move has caused serious discontent among Armenians, particularly in
Gyumri, as people feel the Russians behaved in a high-handed manner,
and Permyakov should instead have been prosecuted under domestic law
since he was off the base.
Some argue that allowing him to be handed over to Russian custody was a
breach of Armenian law and also of a bilateral arrangement between the
two countries. The border with Turkey is manned by border guards from
both Armenia and Russia. However, under a 1992 agreement, suspected
criminals picked up at the border should be handed to Armenian law
enforcement agencies.
There was therefore some surprise when a statement issued by the
prosecutor general's office on January 13 said that the authorities had
not discussed investigating Permyakov under Armenian law. The statement
said the reason was that the suspect was "a citizen of the Russian
Federation and under the jurisdiction of Russian law enforcement
agencies". It cited article 61, paragraph 1 of the Russian constitution
which prohibits the extradition of Russian nationals to other states.
Lawyers in Armenia, as well as the country's ombudsman Karen
Andreasyan, have criticised the national authorities and say there
are no legal grounds for the Russian military to take custody of
Permyakov and investigate the case.
"The fact that the murder was committed on Armenian territory and
the victims of the crime were Armenian gives grounds to say that
under international law, under the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental
agreement, and under the constitution and legislation of Armenia, the
investigation of the case should be conducted by the law enforcement
and judicial authorities of Armenia," Andreasyan said. "The suspect
must be handed over to the Armenian authorities."
Vahagn Dallakyan, a lawyer who works for the Yerevan Investment Law
Group, highlighted a 1997 agreement governing the Russian military base
in Gyumri. "Article 4 clearly states that the investigation of crimes
committed by persons who are members of the Russian military base
in Armenia falls under the jurisdiction of Armenia's law enforcement
agencies and under Armenian legislation," he said.
The Armenian authorities' handling of the case has led to
demonstrations in Gyumri and Yerevan on January 14 and 15. About 30
protesters and police were taken to hospital following clashes. Police
also had to deploy in large numbers at the military base and at
Moscow's consulate in Gyumri and embassy in Yerevan.
Armenia's prosecutor general, Gevorg Kostanyan, rushed to Gyumri to
meet the protesters. As demonstrators hurled coins, Kostanyan promised
them that he would appeal to Russia's chief prosecutor to get the
case and the suspect himself transferred to Armenian jurisdiction.
Besides the issue of whether Armenia or Russia should investigate
and prosecute the case, there are also concerns about local efforts
to pursue the suspect immediately after the crime took place.
A photograph of Permyakov published by the media the same morning
quickly circulated online. Yet despite a large-scale manhunt mounted
by Armenian police and security services, he managed to elude them for
about 12 hours. In doing so he walked about 15 kilometres in freezing
temperatures of minus 14 degrees. The Armenian authorities have yet
to comment on how he did this.
More broadly, many Armenians feel the incident showed that the
national authorities were being dictated to by Moscow and, as such,
marks a shift in the former Soviet state's relationship with Russia.
The chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, Avetik Ishkhanyan,
disputes the official account of events in Gyumri. He believes
Permyakov may have been picked up by the Armenian police and then
handed over to Russian forces.
"I don't trust the official statement, so it is even possible that
the Armenians arrested him and handed him over to his Russian base,"
Ishkhanyan said.
Ishkhanyan noted that Russia's deputy defence minister, Arkady Bakhin,
visited Armenia on January 13, the day after the incident. He sees
this as an attempt to put pressure on Yerevan.
Russia is a longstanding ally of Armenia, supplying most of its gas as
well as maintaining a military presence there. Given the traditionally
cordial relationship, one might have expected the Permyakov incident
to have been resolved amicably. But a number of factors have soured
perceptions of Russia. Many Armenians were outraged when it emerged
in 2013-14 that the Russian arms industry was selling tanks and
other hi-tech military equipment to Azerbaijan, a country with which
they are still technically at war, even though the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict ended in a truce 20 years ago. (See Yerevan Angry at Russian
Arms Sales to Baku.)
Then there is the change in Russia's own circumstances. Armenia entered
the Russia-Belarus-Kazakstan Eurasian Economic Union at the beginning
of January, but much of its trade is with European states and it has
no wish to share in Moscow's increasing isolation, a result of its
actions in Ukraine. The deepening economic crisis in Russia has also
had a direct impact on the large numbers of Armenians working there,
cutting the value of the money they send home and reducing the numbers
of jobs on offer to foreign migrants. (See Armenian Economy Hit by
Knock-on Effects of Russia Sanctions.)
Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert at the Armenian Centre for Political and
International Studies, is concerned that Yerevan has acquiesced to
Moscow over the incident. He points out that President Serzh Sargsyan
did not declare an official day of mourning, and waited a whole week
to offer his condolences to the victims' relatives - after Russian
president Vladimir Putin had done so.
"Armenia has become hostage to Russia," Mehrabyan said. "In the short
term, what happened may not affect Armenian-Russian relations, but
looking at it in the long term, it marks the beginning of a process
of reviewing the relationship.
"We are not a province of Russia, but the current Russian elite does
not understand that."
Armen Karapetyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/armenia-murder-case-strains-relations-moscow
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR CRS Issue 765
Jan 26 2015
Mass protests held over Yerevan's failure to try Russian suspect in
an Armenian court.
by Armen Karapetyan
Armenians in the capital Yerevan and the northwestern city of Gyumri
have reacted angrily after the national authorities failed to act
against a Russian serviceman accused of carrying out a brutal gun
massacre.
Instead, the suspect, Private Valery Permyakov, was taken into custody
at the Russian army base where he was deployed, and the military
authorities there are now investigating the crime.
The Armenian authorities' reluctance to investigate themselves and
put the suspect on trial in a domestic court has been criticised by
the national ombudsman and has led to public protests in Yerevan and
in Gyumri, where the attack took place.
According to Armenia's Investigative Committee, Private Permyakov,
a Russian soldier deployed at the 102nd Russian base in Gyumri,
has pleaded guilty to killing seven members of a single family in an
attack on January 12. His victims included a two-year-old girl and
a six-month old boy; the latter initally survived but died from his
injuries in hospital on January 19.
Police found an AK-74 rifle along with 21 cartridges at the crime
scene. They also found a pair of soldiers' boots marked with
Permyakov's name.
According to Raffi Aslanian, prosecutor for the Shirak region where
Gyumri is located, Russian border guards detained Permyakov on January
12 as he tried to cross the border into Turkey, about 15 kilometres
away from Gyumri. The suspect was then handed over to the Russian
military authorities at the base, where he is in custody.
The move has caused serious discontent among Armenians, particularly in
Gyumri, as people feel the Russians behaved in a high-handed manner,
and Permyakov should instead have been prosecuted under domestic law
since he was off the base.
Some argue that allowing him to be handed over to Russian custody was a
breach of Armenian law and also of a bilateral arrangement between the
two countries. The border with Turkey is manned by border guards from
both Armenia and Russia. However, under a 1992 agreement, suspected
criminals picked up at the border should be handed to Armenian law
enforcement agencies.
There was therefore some surprise when a statement issued by the
prosecutor general's office on January 13 said that the authorities had
not discussed investigating Permyakov under Armenian law. The statement
said the reason was that the suspect was "a citizen of the Russian
Federation and under the jurisdiction of Russian law enforcement
agencies". It cited article 61, paragraph 1 of the Russian constitution
which prohibits the extradition of Russian nationals to other states.
Lawyers in Armenia, as well as the country's ombudsman Karen
Andreasyan, have criticised the national authorities and say there
are no legal grounds for the Russian military to take custody of
Permyakov and investigate the case.
"The fact that the murder was committed on Armenian territory and
the victims of the crime were Armenian gives grounds to say that
under international law, under the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental
agreement, and under the constitution and legislation of Armenia, the
investigation of the case should be conducted by the law enforcement
and judicial authorities of Armenia," Andreasyan said. "The suspect
must be handed over to the Armenian authorities."
Vahagn Dallakyan, a lawyer who works for the Yerevan Investment Law
Group, highlighted a 1997 agreement governing the Russian military base
in Gyumri. "Article 4 clearly states that the investigation of crimes
committed by persons who are members of the Russian military base
in Armenia falls under the jurisdiction of Armenia's law enforcement
agencies and under Armenian legislation," he said.
The Armenian authorities' handling of the case has led to
demonstrations in Gyumri and Yerevan on January 14 and 15. About 30
protesters and police were taken to hospital following clashes. Police
also had to deploy in large numbers at the military base and at
Moscow's consulate in Gyumri and embassy in Yerevan.
Armenia's prosecutor general, Gevorg Kostanyan, rushed to Gyumri to
meet the protesters. As demonstrators hurled coins, Kostanyan promised
them that he would appeal to Russia's chief prosecutor to get the
case and the suspect himself transferred to Armenian jurisdiction.
Besides the issue of whether Armenia or Russia should investigate
and prosecute the case, there are also concerns about local efforts
to pursue the suspect immediately after the crime took place.
A photograph of Permyakov published by the media the same morning
quickly circulated online. Yet despite a large-scale manhunt mounted
by Armenian police and security services, he managed to elude them for
about 12 hours. In doing so he walked about 15 kilometres in freezing
temperatures of minus 14 degrees. The Armenian authorities have yet
to comment on how he did this.
More broadly, many Armenians feel the incident showed that the
national authorities were being dictated to by Moscow and, as such,
marks a shift in the former Soviet state's relationship with Russia.
The chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, Avetik Ishkhanyan,
disputes the official account of events in Gyumri. He believes
Permyakov may have been picked up by the Armenian police and then
handed over to Russian forces.
"I don't trust the official statement, so it is even possible that
the Armenians arrested him and handed him over to his Russian base,"
Ishkhanyan said.
Ishkhanyan noted that Russia's deputy defence minister, Arkady Bakhin,
visited Armenia on January 13, the day after the incident. He sees
this as an attempt to put pressure on Yerevan.
Russia is a longstanding ally of Armenia, supplying most of its gas as
well as maintaining a military presence there. Given the traditionally
cordial relationship, one might have expected the Permyakov incident
to have been resolved amicably. But a number of factors have soured
perceptions of Russia. Many Armenians were outraged when it emerged
in 2013-14 that the Russian arms industry was selling tanks and
other hi-tech military equipment to Azerbaijan, a country with which
they are still technically at war, even though the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict ended in a truce 20 years ago. (See Yerevan Angry at Russian
Arms Sales to Baku.)
Then there is the change in Russia's own circumstances. Armenia entered
the Russia-Belarus-Kazakstan Eurasian Economic Union at the beginning
of January, but much of its trade is with European states and it has
no wish to share in Moscow's increasing isolation, a result of its
actions in Ukraine. The deepening economic crisis in Russia has also
had a direct impact on the large numbers of Armenians working there,
cutting the value of the money they send home and reducing the numbers
of jobs on offer to foreign migrants. (See Armenian Economy Hit by
Knock-on Effects of Russia Sanctions.)
Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert at the Armenian Centre for Political and
International Studies, is concerned that Yerevan has acquiesced to
Moscow over the incident. He points out that President Serzh Sargsyan
did not declare an official day of mourning, and waited a whole week
to offer his condolences to the victims' relatives - after Russian
president Vladimir Putin had done so.
"Armenia has become hostage to Russia," Mehrabyan said. "In the short
term, what happened may not affect Armenian-Russian relations, but
looking at it in the long term, it marks the beginning of a process
of reviewing the relationship.
"We are not a province of Russia, but the current Russian elite does
not understand that."
Armen Karapetyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/armenia-murder-case-strains-relations-moscow