YEREVAN, August 29. /TASS/. A court in Yerevan has turned down the prosecution motion for the arrest of Russian citizen Sergei Mironov. This decision was made on Monday by the first instance court of the Armenian capital.

Armenia’s police said earlier on Monday that Russian citizen Sergei Mironov was detained in the Armenian capital at the request of the American side.

"On August 26, at 16:20 pm (15:20 pm, Moscow time), officers of the main anti-organize crime department of the Armenian police and the Yerevan International Airport Zvarnots transit police detained at the airport Russian citizen Sergei Mironov, 30," the police report says. He "is internationally wanted by the US law enforcement agencies since March 2016 for crimes punishable under several articles of the Criminal Code" of that country, the police said. The charges are a preliminary consent to violate the law on weapons’ export, attempted violation of the law on weapons control, prior consent to money laundering and money laundering.

Mironov has been transferred to a detention facility of the Yerevan department of Armenian police.

The Russian citizen’s lawyer Karen Nersesyan said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel earlier on Monday that the search for Russian citizen Sergei Mironov who has been detained in Yerevan on suspicion of illegal trade in weapons was conducted by the American side with violations, so Mironov should be extradited to Russia, and not to the United States.

"The American side and the Interpol infringed the elementary rules of the search for my client in Russia’s territory with the help of the Russian Interpol - this order was violated," he said. "I think that the Armenian justice and law enforcement bodies, because of these violations, must hand the Russian citizen over to Russia, and urge the American side to observe the procedure and contact Russia’s judiciary bodies and, naturally, Interpol."