Soldier who killed Armenian family of 7 to be tried by Russian court - Kremlin spokesman
MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) - The Russian military serviceman Valery Permyakov charged with killing seven members of the same family in Armenia's Gyumri will be tried by a Russian court, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"As he is a Russian citizen, naturally, it's about the Russian Federation's laws, and this will be a Russian court," Peskov said in an interview with the Gyumri-based TV channel GALA TV.
He reaffirmed that Permyakov's trial will be held in compliance with Russian law.
At the same time, Peskov pointed out that "the chief of the Russian Investigative Committee is working in Gyumri right now, and he is working together with Armenian investigators, as was ordered by the Russian president. They are taking part in investigative procedures, and therefore the investigation is being conducted jointly."
"But the trial will be Russian, and in this particular case Russian laws concerning such monstrous crimes are absolutely merciless," he said.
In reply to the interviewer's suggestion that the people protesting this crime in Armenia might harbor anti-Russian sentiments if the Russian soldier is not turned over to the Armenian justice system, Peskov called for waiting for the trial's conclusion. "The only thing I can say here is that only investigative procedures are being conducted now, and they are being conducted jointly. Let's wait for the conclusion of these procedures and the conclusion of the trial and only then say something on this account," he said.
He acknowledged that there have been attempts "to politicize and make use of this tragedy as an instrument for fomenting anti-Russian sentiments."
"But we count on the Armenian people's wisdom, as they have seen a lot in their history and know how close our countries and our two peoples are. Therefore, we'd like to believe that this won't have a negative impact on our relations, especially considering that a fresh page has just been turned in history of our interaction in light of Armenia's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, which certainly opens up new prospects," he said.
