YEREVAN. – The family of Hrachya Harutyunyan, who was sentenced to prison in Russia, has petitioned to the Ministry of Justice of Armenia with a request to have him extradited to Armenia.

Justice minister’s press secretary Tsovinar Khachatryan told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am. She noted that the ministry is examining the respective documents to have them processed. But it is not known how much time will be needed to carry out the extradition. 

Harutyunyan’s daughter, Lilit, told Armenian News-NEWS.am that although they had submitted these documents two or three weeks ago, there is no news yet. She added that her father’s health is good, but they were unable to establish contact with the attorneys to find out whether there are other relevant legal processes.

And the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that even though the Moscow court judgment has already entered into force, this does not interfere in any way with appealing the charges on Harutyunyan submitting false documents.

Armenian citizen Hrachya Harutyunyan had pleaded guilty to causing a major traffic accident in Russia last year. The truck he was driving had crashed into a passenger bus on July 13, 2013 outside Moscow. The impact of the crash was so powerful that the bus had split in two. The accident claimed eighteen lives and injured more than forty others.

On August 4, a Moscow district court sentenced Hrachya Harutyunyan to six years and nine months in prison on charges of “violating traffic and vehicle operation rules, which has unwittingly led to the death of two or more persons.” And the Moscow Municipal Court upheld this verdict.