YEREVAN. – A group of citizens are protesting outside the Russian Embassy in Armenia, and they are demanding a fair trial in last year’s murder of Russian former special detachment member Nikita Belyankin, in Moscow region. Nine Armenians are charged in this case.

According to preliminary investigation, on the evening of June 1, 2019, Belyankin, while walking with his girlfriend, saw two groups of people fighting with each other near a beer pub, and he decided to intervene. He fired several warning shots from a gas pistol, but he was stabbed in the heart.

Russian citizens of Armenian origin Sergey Khojoyan and Suren Markosyan, as well as Armenian citizens Narek Stepanyan and Sahak Sahakyan were arrested along the lines of the criminal case that was opened into this incident. Khojoyan is charged with murder, while the other three—with hooliganism. But none of them pleads guilty.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, for his part, had said the death of Nikita Belyakin was a great tragedy. But at the same time, he had emphasized that criminals have no nationality, and this case should not affect Armenian-Russian relations.