Armenian Embassy in Moscow in constant contact with lawyers of Hrachya Harutyunyan

YEREVAN, July 16. /ARKA/. The Armenian Embassy in Moscow said it was in constant contact with lawyers of Hrachya Harutyunyan, the Armenian driver of a truck, suspected by Russian police of violating traffic rules in Podolsk, a town near Moscow, and ramming  into a bus and killing 18 passengers and injuring dozens. According to the embassy, Harutyunyan is now in the hospital. 

On Tuesday, Armenian human rights defender Karen Andreasyan sent a letter to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Lukin requesting that he look into the reasons of  humiliating treatment of Harutyunyan. Andreasyan said that  Hrachya Harutyunyan, was brought to  court in a women's dressing gown, which he said was humiliating.

"The Constitution of the Russian Federation provides for protecting the dignity of a  person  by the state, and nothing can be used as basis for its derogation. Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees that the right to dignity of every individual is  unrestricted," Andreasyan said.

According to him, the protection of human dignity is guaranteed also by Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 

The crash occurred around 1 p.m. Saturday, when the Kamaz truck carrying rubble rammed into a bus near the village of Oznobishino in New Moscow, 22 kilometers southwest of the capital. Fourteen bus passengers died at the scene and four more died in hospital later Saturday. At least 61 people were injured and more than 30 passengers were initially hospitalized, 15 of whom were in critical condition.

On Monday, the Tver Court of Moscow ordered the arrest of  Harutyunyan. He  will remain in custody until September 13. He is facing up to seven years in prison. -0-