He aggressively interrupted the judge and called himself a war hero. A new trial has begun in Volgograd for a Wagner member who killed a man after an argument in a parent-teacher chat room.
Volgograd Regional Court embarked on to review the criminal case against Arsen MelkonyanIn October 2020, he died beat up father of a 13-year-old schoolgirl Roman Grebenyuk, who allegedly insulted his sister in a parent chat.
Last March, a court sentenced Melkonyan to 11 years in a maximum-security prison colony, but just a few months later he went to war with the Wagner PMC and was pardoned by the president.
He returned to Volgograd at the beginning of 2023, and was already back in May detained: this time for threats to the judge, ex-wife and daughter.
The murder case is being reviewed following the conviction of not only Arsen Melkonyan but also his sister and brother-in-law. They were sentenced to five and seven years in prison. However, the previous sentence was overturned due to violations found, and the court will now reexamine the involvement of each family member in the realtor's murder.
Journalists report that already at the first hearing, Arsen Melkonyan aggressively interrupted the judge, shouting and demanding that he plead not guilty, constantly mentioning his participation in the war and his alleged achievements. Incidentally, a certificate of his presidential pardon was attached to the criminal case.
Photo: Dozor in Volgograd