A protest was staged Saturday in Gyumri, Armenia, and against the 102nd Russian Military Base which is located in this city.

The objective of this demonstration was to recall the brutal murder of the Avetisyan family members of Gyumri, exactly four years ago on this day, by a soldier of the aforesaid military base, as well as the death of Gyumri resident Julieta Ghukasyan, who died in December of last year, after being brutally beaten by another serviceman of this military base.

“Those accused of killing the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, especially since these murders have taken place outside the military base, should be under the supervision of the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Armenia,” Gyumri Council of Elders member Levon Barseghyan told reporters during this protest. “The justice [system] of the Republic of Armenia must carry out the entire examination.”

He expressed a view that if the court proceedings for these accused Russian soldiers are held inside this Russian military base and in the presence of their commanders and fellow servicemen, the chances of a fair trial dramatically reduce.

As per Barseghyan, their next demand from the Armenian authorities is that all barracks and stations of the 102nd Russian Military Base should be put under special oversight.

In his words, their next demand is that the Armenian law enforcement sets additional surveillance.

“Next, we propose that there be [Armenian] military police oversight at the free residential areas of the contract military servicemen of the 102nd military base,” Levon Barseghyan stated. “We propose to the [Armenian] authorities to immediately start [respective] negotiations with the authorities of the Russian Federation.”