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Araqsya, Andranik and Narine Poghosyans, the successors of the Avetisyan family murdered in early 2015 by a Russian serviceman Valeri Permyakov, as well as Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office have appealed to the European Count for Human Rights with a lawsuit against the Russian Federation.

As the statement issued by Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor office reports,
the appeal has been lodged on the breach of Article II (Right to life) and Article 13 (Right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention of Human Rights.

The justification for the complaint reads that material and procedural rights have been violated within the meaning of Article 2 of the Convention.

According the source, the state (Russia) failed to meet its positive obligations through not preventing the threats to the life of Araqsya Poghosyan and her family members, having known soldier Valery Permyakov is unfit for a military service, yet sending him to army.

Apart from that, the applicants argue that Russian side failed to inform duly the Armenian law enforcement bodies when Permyakov exactly left the post, which would have prevented the tragedy. 

As to the breach of the procedural rights, Helsinki Citizens' Assembly insists, the victims’ successors had no access to the materials of the Russian investigation, being deprived of exercising their respective rights within the investigation of the criminal case, in particular submitting motions, appealing about the preliminary investigation and other rights.
  
To remind, on January 12, 2015 Valeri Permyakov was performing guard service with a rifle of AKA-74 model, 60 bullets of 5.45 mm caliber and a bayonet knife number 689 attached to him. At about 02:00 he voluntarily left the post and with the purpose of finding clothes and money walked around Gyumri. At about 06:00 getting to the house 188, Myasnikyan Street, Gyumri with the intend to steal somebody’s property, through banditry by using a weapon he entered the yard through the open gate, approached the house, through taking out the door glass with the bayonet knife and opening the door with a key which was on the lock from the inside, he illegally entered the mentioned house and with the intend to deprive two or more persons from life, he killed the residents of the same house Aida Avetisyan, Hasmik Avetisyan, Seryozha Avetisyan, Armen Avetisyan, Araqsya Poghosyan and the infant Hasmik Avetisyan with 28 point-blank shots fired from rifle of AKA-74.

Then with the intend to murder, he stabbed five times with the bayonet knife fixed to the rifle at vital organs of 6 month-old Seryozha Avetisyan lying helplessly at his mother’s lap. As a result the baby died in hospital seven days later.

A Russian garrison military court held a hearing on August 12 in the Armenian city of Gyumri. The court sentenced Valery Permyakov to 10 years in high-security prison for desertion and theft of weapons. The murder case is being investigated separately by the Armenian side.