Armenian authorities responsible for Gyumri tragedy

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The inactive Armenian authorities are responsible for the recent bloody tragedy in Gyumri, said a member of an international organization.

Arthur Sakunts, Head of the Vanadzor Office of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, claimed that the law enforcement bodies in Armenia directly depend on the authorities, which, in turn, rely on their Russian instructors.

"The main blunder of the Armenian side was its failure in terms of Valery Permyakov's handover to the local law enforcers," Sakunts said.

Sakunts believes that the Armenian authorities bear a political responsibility for the accident in Gyumri.

"The authorities are passive. Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan is still trying to write a letter to the Russian side to demand for the handover of Permyakov, a killer of 7 people," he added.

Sakunts claimed that Kostanyan's reluctance is related to President Serzh Sargsyan, saying: "Sargaysan doesn't allow Kostanyan to write a letter, because he is thinking of his own security."

He went on to say that even the Kremlin and Russian President Valdimir Putin are now losing their trust in Sargsyan, as he has already failed to regain his prestige among the Armenian people.

"A very interesting coup d'etat model is taking shape in Armenia: it will be not the Armenian people, but the Kremlin which will calling for the government's overthrow," Sakunts said.

The authorities have fabricated two myths following the aggression triggered by the bloodbath in Gyumri, said Sakunts.

"The first myth is that the Russian 102nd base is allegedly serving to protect Armenia's national security, while the second myth tells that the authorities are protecting Armenia's interests. The people hope that the president will shield their rights at least in extreme cases. But it didn't happen," he noted.

Sakunts called on the people to abandon the opinion that the authorities are safeguarding their interests.

"The president, who treats his people badly, could not protect the interests of his own government," he added.

The fact that Permyakov is now under control of the Russians show the authorities' subjection to Russia, claimed Sakunts.

"Obviously, not the Armenian constitution, but the Russian laws are in force in Armenia's territory," he said.

Meantime, Hayk Marutyan, an Armenian actor, called on the authorities to decide whether they are Armenian citizens or just tourists visiting the country given their stance on the tragedy in Gyumri.

Gyumri incident has turned into a complicated riddle for the rulers of Armenia. Russia is decisive to keep Armenia far from prosecuting Permyakov. Even the military experts, including Pavel Felgenhauer said there was no sense of expecting Russia to handover its soldier to Armenia.

Investigators from the South Caucasus country have managed to interrogate Permyakov only after 10 days since the incident on January 22, when Alexander Bastrikin, Head of Russia's Investigative Committee, visited Armenia.

Now, the local media claims that Bastrikin's urgent visit to Armenia raised some suspicions over Russia's permissive gesture to the Armenian law enforcers to question the conscript after a persistent refusal.

It is widely believed that Russia is demanding something from Armenia as an exchange for interrogating Permyakov, according to 1in.am, a local media outlet.