Armenian court frees detained Russian citizen but orders not to leave country

An Armenian court on Monday decided to free a Russian citizen who was detained last week and wanted by the United States for a number of offenses, reported Azatutyun, the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe..

The Court of General Jurisdiction of the Nork-Marash Administrative District in Yerevan denied the Armenian prosecutor's request to keep the arrested Russian citizen Sergey Mironov in detention, however, it ordered the Russian citizen not to leave Armenia until the issue of his extradition is decided upon through another court hearing.

Earlier on Monday the Armenian police made an official announcement related to the detention of Mironov.

According to the announcement of the police, Mironov, 30, was arrested at the Yerevan airport on Friday evening, although no official information was released regarding the incident by any side until Monday despite a number of reports in international media.

The statement by the Police of Armenia mentioned that Mironov was wanted by the U.S. for alleged violations of the U.S. Criminal Code, including money laundering and arms exports.

According to the police, the National Central Bureau of Interpol in Armenia and General Prosecutor's Office have been notified of Mr. Mironov's detention.

Earlier on the weekend, a representative of the Russian Embassy in Armenia had told Azatutyun that "the Embassy was dealing with the issue."

Armenia is a close ally of Russia and a lot of people are anxiously waiting to see how the situation will unfold.

Source : XINHUA