YEREVAN. – The Court of Cassation of Armenia will soon receive yet another appeal to the case into the murder of Avetisyan family in Gyumri.

Attorney Aramazd Kiviryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that this appeal is being prepared, and it will be sent forwarded to the court by the end of the week.

Earlier, the representative of the legal successors of the aggrieved party, Artur Sakunts, had appealed the Court of Appeal judgment on the murder case at the Court of Cassation.

The appellate court had upheld the lower court decision on this case. 

The legal successors of the murdered Avetisyan family are appealing the court decision. One appeal is about compensation for the damages caused. The other appeal is the re-examination of the case, and based on the theory that Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri and who has been found guilty of committing the murder, could not have acted alone.     

The murder took place on January 12, 2015. According to the indictment, Permyakov entered the Avetisyan family home on that day, and he killed home residents Aida Avetisyan, Hasmik Avetisyan, Seryozha Avetisyan, Armen Avetisyan, Araksya Poghosyan, and little girl Hasmik Avetisyan. Subsequently, he stabbed 6-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan five times. The baby boy died in the hospital one week later.

Permyakov was apprehended by the Russian border guards near the Armenian-Turkish border—and nearby Bayandur village—on the same night, he was arrested on January 14, and held in custody at the Russian military base.

Armenia and Russia instituted criminal cases on charges of murder and military desertion, respectively.

On August 12, 2015, the Russian court sentenced Permyakov to ten years in prison. And on October 16 of the same year, Armenia formally brought criminal charges against the Russian soldier.

And on August 23, 2016, the Shirak District Court of First Instance found Valery Permyakov guilty of all charges—murder, robbery, and attempt to cross the Armenian state border—that were brought against him, and he was sentenced to life in prison.