The Armenian side has not commissioned a forensic psychiatric evaluation of Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, who is the accused in the recent murder of the Avetisyan family in Armenia’s Gyumri city.   

Yerem Sargsyan, the attorney of the legal heirs of the slain Avetisyan family, told about the abovementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

We asked him to comment on the media reports that, as a result of forensic psychiatric examination, Permyakov was deemed sane.

“I don’t have such official information. The Armenian side did not commission such examination. We are talking about the Russian [criminal] case [brought against Permyakov] within the framework of which, according to information, this conclusion was obtained.

“At any rate, if there is indeed such a conclusion, I’m not surprised, since I have repeatedly stated that the actions taken have evidenced solely conscious and deliberate actions, which gave real grounds to believe that he was not insane at the time of committing the offense,” Sargsyan said.

The attorney added, however, that there is no official information on the Russian investigation’s respective expertise studies and their conclusions.

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.