Next court hearing on Hrachya Harutyunyan's case due May 13
The next court hearing on the case involving Hrachya Harutyunyan, an Armenian national arrested in Russia over a fatal car crash that left 18 bus passengers dead, is scheduled for May 13, Victor Martirosyan, the father of Harutyunyan’s wife, told A1+. Martirosyan talked to his son-in-law three days ago. During the telephone conversation, he understood that Harutyunyan had health problems, but did not tell anyone about it. On July 13, 2013, near Podolsk, just outside of Moscow, the breaks of the truck Hrachya Harutyunyan was driving gave out, and the truck hit a bus, killing 18 passengers. More than 30 people were hospitalized. If convicted, Harutyunyan faces up to 7 years in prison. The Armenian national also sustained injuries. In this state, he was taken immediately from the hospital to the courtroom dressed in a woman’s housecoat, where he constantly tried to hide his face from the camera and wept. This treatment of a citizen of Armenia sparked a wave of protests outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan.
