YEREVAN. – The Armenian police were being stoned for more than forty minutes outside the Russian consulate building in Gyumri city on Thursday, January 15, yet they took no action, Chief of Police Vladimir Gasparyan told reporters on Saturday.

“We [, the Police,] understood that there was some rage, [and] there were organizers whom we needed to separate so we could have directed our actions at them.

“The events have shown that innocent, naive people usually suffer in such moments. We had a task of showing the real picture. We have shown maximum tolerance on January 15,” Gasparyan specifically noted.

As for the events that occurred on the same day at Liberty Square in capital city of Yerevan, the Police chief noted that the law enforcement had received a call from a person, who had stated that one of those assembled at the square had a weapon.

“We took the right action. I gave an instruction to detain everyone [at the square]. In doing so, we prevented a crime, even if that weapon is legal, or [is a] gas [weapon]. When they take out that weapon, you don’t know what type of weapon it is.

“I believe we have prevented a crime on that day,” Vladimir Gasparyan concluded, in particular.

As reported earlier, six members of the Avetisyan family—including a two-year-old girl—were shot dead, and a six-month-old baby boy was wounded in their house in Gyumri on Monday. Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in the city, stands accused in this crime. Permyakov was apprehended by the Russian border guards near the Armenian-Turkish border, and he was arrested on Wednesday. Valery Permyakov 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.” The Investigative Committee of Armenia also has launched a criminal case on the murders. 

The Prosecutor General’s Office had said Permyakov will face justice under Russian law, and this information provoked a wave of protests in Armenia, especially in Gyumri and capital city Yerevan.