Protesters in Gyumri hurled stones at Russian consulate general and police cordon

GYUMRI, January 15. / ARKA /. Protesters in Armenia’s northwestern Gyumri marched today from the regional prosecutor's office building to the Consulate General of Russia in this town hurling stones on its building and a police cordon, Novosti-Armenia reported from Gyumri.

Protesters took to the streets to demand that Valery Permyakov, a Russian soldier from the Russian military base in Gyumri, who admitted to killing six members of a local family be brought to justice in Armenia.

Valery Permyakov was detained by Russian border guards Tuesday when attempting to cross the border into neighboring Turkey and was handed over to his Russian military commander. Permyakov's return to his military base prompted fears among the local population that he would not be held responsible for his crimes.

Some of protesters tried to pacify their fellows urging them to stop throwing stones on police officers, who used their shields and batons to defend themselves.

Armenia’s prosecutor general Gevorg Kostanyan said today that Valery Permyakov, who was to be charged today formally with multiple murders will be brought to justice in Armenia.

Earlier Armenian defense minister Seyran Ohanyan and Russian ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volynkin criticized the attempts to politicize the murders pointing to the allied relations between the two nations. According to Armenian authorities, they are conducting the investigation into the case together with Russian counterparts.-0-