Court Hearing Postponed Again in Case of Gyumri Woman's Murder by Russian Soldier

The court hearing for Russian soldier Andrey Razgildeyev, accused of the murder of Gyumri resident Juliya Ghukasyan, has been postponed once again. This marks the third postponement of the hearing.

The first court session, scheduled for September 6, 2019, did not take place due to the absence of the prosecuting party, as Shirak Province Prosecutor Karen Gabrielyan was on vacation. Subsequently, the court postponed the session, considering several provisions of the Armenian Criminal Procedure Code, and rescheduled it for October 25, 2019. However, that session was also canceled due to the absence of the prosecuting party.

Today’s scheduled court hearing was postponed again due to the poor health of Russian soldier Andrey Razgildeyev, who is accused of Juliya Ghukasyan’s murder. According to the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly, the state, represented by the public prosecution, is likely unable to ensure the presence of the accused soldier, who is held in Russian military base territory.

Artur Sakunts, the president of the Helsinki Civil Assembly Vanadzor office, and lawyer Arayik Zalyan represent the victim's legal heirs.

It should be noted that Andrey Razgildeyev was not on the military base when the crime occurred; he was in one of the streets of Gyumri. Razgildeyev is accused of the murder of not a military personnel but of an Armenian citizen, Juliya Ghukasyan, yet he is held not in Armenian territory but in a Russian military base.

Recall that Juliya Ghukasyan was murdered early in the morning on December 2, 2018, while she was on her way to work. The woman worked in the municipal services and environmental protection department of the Gyumri city hall as a cleaner, and she was cleaning the streets in the early morning hours. Andrey Razgildeyev was arrested nine days after the incident, on December 11, 2018.