The Russian border guards had no right to detain Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, who is the accused in the recent murder of the Avetisyan family in Armenia’s Gyumri city.

Civic activist Daniel Ioannisyan noted the above-said at Saturday’s respective public debate in Gyumri.

“The Russian border guards had no right to apprehend Permyakov because he was not attempting to cross the border, and the border guards have no right to carry out other activities. Also, they had no right to move about [Armenia] without the consent of our law enforcement, and we found out that this [consent] had not happened,” Ioannisyan stated.

In his words, however, even though the Russian border guards had the right to participate in the search for Permyakov, they had to be unarmed during this manhunt.

“The agreements, which specify the rules of mutually agreed actions, are violated, and, until now, no official has voiced these violations,” the civic activist noted.

As reported earlier, six members of the Avetisyan family—including a two-year-old girl—were shot dead, and a six-month-old baby was wounded in their house in Gyumri on January 12; and the baby boy died in hospital on January 19.

Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, stands accused in this crime. Permyakov was apprehended by the Russian border guards near the Armenian-Turkish border on the same night, he was arrested on January 14, and he is held in custody at the Russian military base.

The soldier is charged under Russian law, with “the murder of more than two people” and “desertion with a service weapon.” And on January 21, the Investigative Committee of Armenia also filed a criminal charge against Permyakov, and with “premeditated murder of two or more persons.” The Russian soldier has accepted the charges.