Relatives of driver Garnik Harutyunyan, sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for a bus accident in Tula Oblast (province) of Russia, do not agree with the verdict and are going to appeal.

Garnik's sister, Lilit, told Armenian News – NEWS.am that no evidence of her brother's guilt has been presented.

The passenger bus, which was traveling from Moscow to Yerevan, had the accident on November 3 last year, in the Uzlovsky District of Tula. 

There were over 60 passengers on the bus, all of them Armenian citizens. Consequently, 9 people died and 46 sustained injuries. 32 people were hospitalized. A criminal case was opened against the driver under the article of ''violation of traffic rules, negligently resulting in the deaths of two or more persons,'' which stipulates until seven years in prison. Custody was chosen as a preventive measure against the driver.