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The trial of Russian serviceman Valery Permyakov, who is charged with murdering a seven-member Armenian family in Gyumri in January, will be held in Armenia, Oleg Lebedev, deputy chairman of Russian State Duma’s Committee for CIS Affairs and Eurasian Integration, said in Yerevan on Saturday, according to RIA Novosti.

“Russia did everything possible for the investigation to proceed – and it is proceeding – in Armenia. The trial is planned to take place in Armenia, which is what the Armenian people ask for,” Lebedev said at a joint session of the Russian State Duma and Armenian National Assembly committees.

Six members of one family, including a two-year-old child, were shot dead in their house in Gyumri on January 12. A six-month-old baby was hospitalized with stab wounds. He died in hospital on January 19. Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian military base stationed in Gyumri, the main suspect in the murder, was detained by Russian border guards while attempting to cross the Armenian-Turkish border near Yerazgavors village in Armenia’s Shirak province. Permyakov is held in custody at the Russian military base. He was questioned and confessed to the crime. Permyakov is charged under Article 105.2 and 338.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (murder and desertion). Also, Armenian Investigative Committee brought a charge against Permyakov under Article 104 part 2 point 1 (murder of two or more persons) of the Armenian Criminal Code.