On Monday, August 3, a preliminary hearing was held in the case of the older sisters of Khachaturian - Angelina and Krestina, accused of murdering their own father. The Moscow City Court granted the defense's petition that the case be considered with the participation of a jury.

“The court issued a ruling on the appointment of the hearing for August 31st. On this day, the selection of the jury will take place, and the court granted the girls 'petition, ”said one of the girls' lawyers, Aleksey Liptser.

According to him, the Khachaturian sisters do not have serious health problems and are ready to seek justice.

In turn, lawyer Yulia Nitchenko, representing the interests of the injured party in this case - the relatives of the deceased Mikhail Khachaturian - said that she was positive about the fact that the decision on the case would be taken by a jury.

“If we had such an opportunity (to file a petition for a jury trial. - RT ), then we would definitely have announced this, because at the jury trial all the fakes that are thrown into the press will not pass. That is, the judge will not allow any unconfirmed facts to be spoken, everything will be based on the case materials, ”said the lawyer.

  • Yulia Nitchenko on the participation of the jury in the trial of the Khachaturian sisters

Ban on participation in public events

In addition, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, Angelina and Krestina Khachaturian were banned from participating in public mass events (rallies, processions). In addition, the ban on certain actions has been extended - communication with each other, with the media, with the younger sister Maria.

“This was the expected decision,” added lawyer Alexey Liptser.

He also said that the court refused to return the criminal case against the elder sisters of Khachaturyan to the prosecutor's office and did not transfer the case by jurisdiction to the Butyrsky Court of Moscow, where the case of Maria, the youngest of the sisters, would be considered.

“The court explained that they misinterpret the norms of the law, demanding things that are prohibited. It was just an attempt by the defense to connect two cases. Moreover, the younger sister was declared insane, ”explained Yulia Nikitchenko, a lawyer for Mikhail Khachaturian's family.

The relatives of the deceased also noted that there was no cruelty in the family, but Mikhail was a strict father who wanted to raise "normal, decent girls" out of them.

“I think that they had a plan ... We have the opinion that there was a selfish goal ... Everything that belonged to him would go to them,” Gennady Musaelyan, husband of Mikhail Khachaturian's older sister, told reporters.

The case of the Khachaturian sisters

On July 27, 2018, police found the body of 57-year-old Mikhail Khachaturian in Moscow. According to the investigation, the sisters Angelina, Krestina and Maria, "acting by a group of persons in a preliminary conspiracy, experiencing an acute personal dislike", inflicted multiple blows on him with a knife and hammer.

As the lawyers of the Khachaturian sisters noted in an interview with RT, the father established "humiliating and cruel" order in the house. In particular, for non-observance of any rule or simply in a fit of rage, the girls were threatened with punishment in the form of beating. There were also cases of using pneumatic weapons against girls. In addition, since 2015, Mikhail began to use sexual violence against his daughters (at that time the sisters were 14, 15 and 16 years old), the lawyers said.

“He had several diagnoses. One of them is “sexual preference disorder”. This explains his craving for pedophilia and incest. The attending physicians described him as arrogant, emotionally unstable, conflicting, mentally unbalanced, deceitful and inclined to fantasize for their own purposes, ”the lawyers said.

  • Christening and Angelina Khachaturyan
  • Reuters
  • © Maxim Shemetov

During the investigation of the case, the Investigative Committee also confirmed the fact of sexual abuse by the father.

On June 30, an additional investigation was completed, after which the investigators proposed to choose a "compulsory medical measure" against the youngest of Maria's sisters.

“In the course of the investigation, the state of mind of the persons involved was established by means of complex psychological and psychiatric examinations. According to their conclusion, two of the sisters, at the time of the murder, could be aware of the actual nature of the actions being taken and direct them. Diagnostic expert conclusions about the mental state of the Khachaturian sisters were confirmed by the results of additional forensic examinations, ”the Investigative Committee explained.

The consideration of the case of Maria Khachaturyan will begin on August 5 in the Butyrka District Court.