20:52, 28 August 2020

Armenian MFA accuses Azerbaijan of putting pressure on captured officer

An Armenian solider. Photo by the press service of the Armenian Ministry of Defence http://www.mil.am/ru/news/8291

Azerbaijan forced Armenian officer Gurgen Alaverdyan to read out a video appeal with repentance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia claimed. The Armenian diplomats treat the Baku's actions as a violation of the war prisoner's rights.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the State Security Service of Azerbaijan made public a video appeal of Gurgen Alaverdyan, in which the Armenian officer claimed that he had been sent for sabotage, that he repented of his deeds, and that he "wanted to serve Azerbaijan." Experts from Yerevan suggest that the Armenian officer was forced to read out the prepared text.

On August 23, Armenian officer Gurgen Alaverdyan was captured in the Karabakh conflict zone. According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan, he was a member of a sabotage reconnaissance group. According to the Ministry of Defence of Armenia, the officer was not a saboteur, but he lost his way because of bad weather. Gurgen Alaverdyan faces criminal charges, including the charges of espionage and aggressive warfare.

The Armenian MFA called the Azerbaijan's actions towards Gurgen Alaverdyan "a gross violation of international humanitarian law," the "Sputnik Armenia" reports.

According to the Armenian MFA's statement, Baku "thus rejects the right of prisoners of war" to respect for their honour and dignity, provided by the Third Geneva Convention (GCIII).

Earlier, Avaz Gasanov, the head of the Society for Humanitarian Research, and Telman Abilov, the head of the organization "Military Officers", have suggested that Azerbaijan will likely exchange Gurgen Alaverdyan and three other residents of Armenia for their citizens kept in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 28, 2020 at 09:36 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.