Gyumri residents demand Permyakov handover to Armenian law enforcers

Protests are underway in the city of Gyumri. Protesters demand that Russian soldier Valery Permyakov suspected of a killing six members of a family should be handed over to Armenian law enforcers.

In addition to hundreds of people, including the Primate of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Ajapahyan, over 300 cars are participating in the march. 

Protests were being staged outside the Russian Consulate General in Gyumri, the regional administration and the prosecutor’s office.

The Office of Armenian Prosecutor General said yesterday that Russian soldier Valery Permyakov suspected of killing six members of a family in Armenia’s northwestern city of Gyumri will not be handed over to Armenian law enforcers.

According to the statement of the Prosecutor’s Office, the suspect Valery Permyakov is a Russian citizen and is under the jurisdiction of Russian investigatory bodies.

“Therefore the issue of handing V. Permyakov over to Armenian law enforcers is not discussed, given the ban in Article 61 clause 1 of the Constitution of Russia, according to which a Russian citizen may not be handed over to a foreign state.  Article 30.1 of Armenia’s Constitution also has such a ban, under which no Armenian citizen has ever been handed over to a foreign state,” Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office said.