YEREVAN. – Armenia's Ombudsman has addressed his Russian colleague Tatyana Moskalkova in connection with the case of Hracya Harutyunyan, an Armenian driver convicted of causing a major traffic accident in Russia that killed 18 people.

Media reports about the conditions of detention and the health of Harutyunyan appeared on December 24. In this connection, the Armenian human rights defender addressed his Russian colleague, and an arrangement that Russian Ombudswoman's representatives would visit Harutyunyan has been reached.

Armenian citizen Hrachya Harutyunyan had pleaded guilty to causing a major traffic accident in Russia. The truck he was driving had crashed into a passenger bus in July 2013, outside capital city Moscow. The impact of the crash was so powerful that the bus, which was carrying 64 passengers, had split in two. The accident had claimed 18 lives and injured more than 40 others.

In April 2015, a Moscow district court sentenced Harutyunyan to 6 years and 9 months in prison on charges of violating traffic and vehicle operation rules and causing death. And the Moscow Municipal Court upheld this verdict.

For the past one year, however, the Armenian side is seeking to have Hrachya Harutyunyan extradited to Armenia.