Hrachya Harutyunyan needs not only legal, but also moral-psychological support

Lusine Vasilyan
“Radiolur”

I’m ready to leave for Moscow and defend our compatriot Hrachya Harutyunyan, member of the Chamber of Advocates, attorney Ruben Baloyan told reporters today. He’s confident that Harutyunyan needs not only legal, but also moral-psychological support.

President of the Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan considers that Armenia should take steps to extradite Hrachya Harutyunyan to Armenia and hold the trial here.

Stepan Grigoryan offers condolences not only to the families of the 18 victims of the tragic accident near Moscow on July 13, but also to the relatives of all those killed in Russia in car accidents at the fault of drunk drivers.

“I have looked at statistics. The number of people killed in crashes at the fault of drunk drivers has been about 100 times more this year,” he said.

Grigoryan considers that on the days following the accident Russian media violated the rules of journalistic ethics by constantly mentioning his nationality and failing to maintain the presumption of innocence.

The political scientist is satisfied with the reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yesterday representatives of the Armenian Embassy in Russia met with Harutyunyan at the pre-trial prison. They assure the conditions there are satisfactory. Representatives of the Embassy have promised to arrange a phone conversation with the family in the near future.

Stepan Grigoryan said it would be better if the Ambassador or the Deputy Ambassador visited Hrachya Harutyunyan. As for the perspectives of his extradition, Grigoryan said all necessary legal bases exist between Armenia and Russia to organize it.

He’s confident the issue should be raised before the trial. “Russia is obviously politicizing the issue. It will be naïve to expect that the trial will be fair,” he added.

Member of the Chamber of Advocates Ruben Baloyan is ready to leave for Moscow and defend our compatriot. According to him, there are two ways to involve Armenian lawyers in the process. Either the Chamber of Advocates should dispatch a lawyer, or Harutyunyan’s relatives must apply to attorneys.

Having analyzed the details of the accident, Baloyan is confident that Hrachya Harutyunyan has managed to make a correct decision to avoid a greater number of victims.