Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

On 8 December 2023, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor received information that on 6 or 7 December 2023 RF citizen Dmitriy Leonidovich Setrakov had been detained by police officers of the 102nd military base in Shirak region town of Gyumri and transferred to the Russian military base territory.

A criminal case has been initiated against Dmitriy Leonidovich Setrakov by RF military investigative department 519 under Article 337 § 5, based on which he is to remain detained for 27 days and is currently kept in the Russian 102nd military base deployed in Gyumri. 

In the RA territory, a person’s liberty can be restricted only by RA law enforcement, while RF military police officers do not have any power to take such actions in the RA territory, as they amount to an infringement of the RA sovereignty and legal system. 

Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor condemns abduction of and illegal activities against a person under RA  legal protection by RF military police in the Republic of Armenia territory.

At the same time, we hereby demand from the RA Government, RA Prosecutor General’s Office and other law enforcement bodies to take all the necessary efforts to return Dmitriy Leonidovich Setrakov under the RA legal protection and initiate a criminal prosecution on account of illegal actions of the RF military police to prevent possible transfer of Dmitriy Leonidovich Setrakov out of the RA territory.