"We are to blame for the housecoat put on the citizen of Armenia Hrachya Haroutyunyan in the Russian court, for the fact that we did not fight for our rights, for the fact that we failed fair elections, for the situation in the country that makes people leave the country. We should demand justice first in Armenia, then in Russia", said Raffi Hovannisian at a press conference on Friday, when commenting on the public discontent caused the by fact that Hrachya Haroutyunyan was dressed in a housecoat in the Moscow court. To note, on July 13 Harutyunyan's Kamaz drove into a bus with 64 passengers. 18 people were killed. On July 15 the Tver court of Moscow ruled that Harutyunyan should be in custody till Sept 13. The Armenian may face seven years in jail if found guilty.
The fact that Harutyunyan was brought to court in a colored housecoat has raised a wave of discontent in Armenia and among the Armenians living in Russia.
In the meantime, when speaking of the Armenian-Russian relations, he stressed that Armenia expects its strategic partner to be loyal. He thinks it is unacceptable to raise the Russian gas prices for the strategic partner or sell military hardware to the country (Azerbaijan - editor's note), which seeks to destroy Russia's strategic partner (Armenia - editor's note). "If Russia continue behaving so, Armenia will have to revise the format of its participation in the CSTO. I object to Armenia's participation in the CSTO and its equal bilateral relations with all countries, particularly, the USA, Russia, China, India and Iran", he said.