Russia not extraditing Harutyunyan to Armenia

Moscow has received a formal petition from Yerevan for the extradition of Armenia’s former Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan, who is on international wanted list within CIS countries in connection with the criminal case into the events in Yerevan on March 1, 2008, Interfax reported with reference to a source.

"The petition has been addressed to the law enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation, and now it’s at the phase of consideration," the source said. "A preliminary decision has been taken that the petition for extradition will be rejected, since it has been confirmed that Mikael Harutyunyan has a Russian passport ever since 2002."

The source recalled that under Russia's constitution, its citizens are not extradited to other countries, including to face criminal accountability. The source added that the petition was received through the Interpol bureau in Russia.

Armenia's former Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan has been charged in Armenia within the framework of the criminal case into the events in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008, and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code (breaching Armenia’s constitutional order in conspiracy with others). But since Harutyunyan is not in Armenia, a search for him was declared.