MOSCOW, August 23 (RAPSI) – A court in Armenia has sentenced Russian soldier Valery Permyakov to life in prison for killing seven members of a family in the city of Gyumri, Public Radio of Armenia reported on Tuesday.

Permyakov was found guilty on all accounts including murder, assault related to robbery and attempt to cross the border illegally.

The family, including a six-month-old baby, was killed as a result of an armed assault on January 12, 2015. Valery Permyakov, a soldier at a Russian base in the Armenian town of Gyumri, was arrested and later charged with the murder of two or more persons under the Armenian Criminal Code.

On August 12, 2015, Permyakov was found guilty of desertion, theft of weapons and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The murder case was singled out for considering it in a separate procedure and passed to the Armenian authorities.

On October 13, Permyakov was found sane despite certain deviations. According to experts, he was not in the heat of passion while committing the crime. He also could recognize the consequences of his actions.

On October 16, Permyakov was additionally charged with armed assault, home-invasion robbery and attempted border crossing.

He has pleaded guilty to all charges against him including murder of the family.

In July, legal successors of a family killed in the Armenian city of Gyumri in 2015 lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia.

In the application filed with the ECHR the successors alleged that their rights had been violated under Article 2 (Right to life) and Article 13 (Right to effective remedy) of the European Convention of Human Rights.

They claim that Russia has not fulfilled its obligation for prevention of obvious threat to the victims’ lives, allegedly knowing that Permyakov could not be conscripted into the army and had no right to use weapon. They also insist in the complaint that Russia has not informed Armenian law enforcement officers about Permyakov’s desertion in time.