Russian Ambassador: Politicization of murder in Gyumri is  unacceptable

ArmInfo.The seriousness of the incident in Gyumri is undoubted, however, I believe that the politicization of this incident is unacceptable. Such an opinion on  December 18 at a press conference was expressed by the Russian  Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin, speaking of the recent tragic  case of a woman being killed by servicemen of the 102nd Russian base.

The Ambassador said that he was not authorized to comment on the  incident, as this issue concerns the investigation, as well as the  interaction of the investigating authorities with the military base.  "As far as I know, this interaction is carried out very closely on  the basis of the Armenian legislation and the legal documents that  regulate the activities of the base in Armenia," Kopirkin stressed.

The Ambassador said that the Russian side has repeatedly noted that  such issues cannot be politicized.  "This is a terrible crime and the  culprit should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But we  believe that politicizing such incidents will not contribute to the  effectiveness and objectivity of the investigation," Kopyrkin  stressed.

The Ambassador stressed that the Russian side, of course, is very  concerned about the reaction of the Armenian society to this issue.  "We are certainly very worried about how the Armenian society reacted  to this incident. It's written in the agreement between Russia and  Armenia that the base works with the local population. We appreciate  the assessment of the local residents in connection with the  activities of the Russian base, and we He is in contact with the  leadership of the Russian military base on this issue. It is a pity  that such incidents cause particular resonance, while the systematic  work of the base in a number of different areas remains in the  shadow, and does not cause much interest in the media", the  Ambassador said.

The Ambassador also noted that around this incident certain attempts  were made to set the direction to the investigation and to form  certain moods, which the embassy categorically opposed.

To note, on December 3 in the city of Gyumri a criminal case was  initiated into the murder of the 57-year- old cleaner. The woman died  as a result of the resulting grievous bodily harm. On December 11,  the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia reported that a soldier of  the 102nd Russian military base stationed in Gyumri was arrested on  suspicion of causing serious bodily injuries resulting in death. In  connection with this, the Russian Embassy in Armenia issued a  statement urging not to politicize the issue, since after the  incident opinions began to sound about the need to withdraw the  Russian military base from Armenia.