44% of Russians believe that court hearings of the Gyumri slaughter case, where Russian soldier Valery Permyakov is the accused, are to be held in Armenia, says a poll conducted by Levada-Centre, a non-governmental sociological organization, says its press release.
Meanwhile, 35% of the respondents speak for carrying out the hearings in Russia, 21% were undecided.
42% of the respondent believe, the Russian court should hold the trial. 37% say it is a matter of the Armenian court, 21% are still undecided.
48% of the respondents find it right if both Russian and Armenian investigators conduct the investigation. 25% speak for the Russian ones, 21% for the Armenian ones, 6% are undecided.
According to the results of the poll, 37% of the Russians have heard of the slaughter followed by protest actions in Gyumri, 32% heard nothing of it, 22% heard something but do not remember what was the point, 9% have been closely watching the developments.
The poll was conducted on January 23-26 by a representative sampling among 1,600 individuals of urban and rural population aged over 18 in 134 settlements.
On Jan 12, Valery Permyakov, Russian soldier serving in the Russian military base in Gyumri, deserted the unit with a gun with him. He penetrated into a house, shot down the Avetisyan family that lived there. One of the killed was two-year-old child. The same day Permyakov was caught while attempting to cross the Armenian-Turkish border. The only survivor of the shooting, six-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan, was seriously injured and died in hospital on Jan 19. Lots of people gathered in Gyumri with a demand to give Permyakov to the Armenian law enforcers. It is known that Permyakov will be tried in the territory of Armenia. Armenian and Russian investigators have agreed to cooperate on the case. The Armenian side has charged Permyakov with assassination of two and more people. The suspect has pleaded guilty.
