YEREVAN. – The residents of Gyumri have collected 8,000 signature in a campaign demanding hand over of the Russian serviceman to Armenian law enforcement agency.

A group of volunteers launched the campaign in Gyumri to address the president and the National Assembly.

The signature campaign was joined by the head of Shirak diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Bishop Mikael Ajapahyan. The organizers of campaign do not rule out holding further protest actions and demonstrations.

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. The baby boy died in hospital on January 19.

Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in the city, stands accused in this crime.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia had stated earlier, however, that Valery Permyakov will face justice under Russian law, and this information had provoked a wave of protests in Armenia, especially in Gyumri and capital city Yerevan, and with a demand that Permyakov be handed over to the Armenian law enforcement.