“Even a Messenger on a Horse Would Have Reached Moscow by Now”: On the Letter Regarding Massacre Suspect

The Union of Informed Citizens NGO claims that the Prosecutor’s Office has violated the law by not providing the content of the General Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan's letter to his Russian counterpart asking for the transfer of the Avetisyan family murder case to Armenian law enforcement.

Yesterday, the General Prosecutor released a statement which stated that “we do not consider it expedient to address, or furthermore comment on suspicions and circulating absurd news related to the matter of sending the letter or its content.” Note, that 2 days ago the Zhoghovurd daily had published a letter by the Russian Prosecutor which stated that they had not received a written document about the murder suspect Russian soldier Valery Permyakov.

Turning to the current situation, the Union of Informed Citizens underlined,“To put it mildly, it is strange that in the 21st century, a letter sent on February 3 has not reached the Russian prosecutor weeks later. Even a messenger on a horse from Yerevan would have reached Moscow by now.

The General Prosecutor has violated the Law on Freedom of Information by not providing a copy of the letter to the Union of Informed Citizens, nor to multiple other media outlets.

Therefore, because the Armenian prosecutor, who broke the law by not providing a copy of the letter as well as any proof of actually sending it, the Armenian public has the right to claim that the prosecutor is trying to conceal something… Otherwise it would be devoid of any meaning to disregard the law to keep the letter’s content a secret.”

Note, that the Union of Informed Citizens NGO has appealed to the Administrative Court demanding to make the General Prosecutor’s office provide a copy of the letter.