Information about Armenian prisoners held in Baku is being falsified
"Artsakh TV" has contacted Linda Euljekchyan, the wife of Vigen Euljekchyan, who is being held hostage in Baku. She said that she last spoke to Vigen on June 5, then in August and most recently in September.
"During our last conversation, Vigen's voice was very weak," said Linda, adding that her husband's mood changed with each call and that his physical and psychological state continues to remain vulnerable.
Relatives have only very little information about Vigen and other Armenian prisoners held in Baku. The International Committee of the Red Cross was the only independent international organization for information exchange. On September 3, the ICRC office in Baku was closed.
The head of the Center for International and Comparative Law, Siranush Sahakyan, said in an interview with Artsakh TV that the Armenians held in Baku are currently in conditions of absolute isolation.
"The Azerbaijani side provides the opportunity for conversations under strictly controlled conditions, but it is understandable that phone calls are not enough to understand, assess the real situation of the people there and mitigate the risks. We have numerous cases when the photo was deliberately taken from such an angle as to hide the injuries, and it is understandable that only through these photos we cannot understand the real state of the person. But even in these filtered photos we reveal health problems: exhaustion, stress and, why not, traces of violence," said Sahakyan.
According to Siranush Sahakyan, the information provided by Azerbaijan to the European Court of Human Rights is incomplete and unreliable. They found a number of inconsistencies when studying the documents they received. "We even have cases when the objective data of a person is recorded incorrectly. For example, the height is recorded incorrectly and other unchanging physical characteristics are also misrecorded in those documents. This indicates that the documents are prepared merely for formal purposes, given that legal proceedings are ongoing. Azerbaijan is only creating evidence in order to properly protect the interests of the state," said Sahakyan.
After the recent negotiations in Washington, certain positive expectations had arisen regarding the return of the prisoners. "If the American side wants to give vitality to the peace agreement, it must at least achieve the release of the Armenian prisoners before the final signing of that document through other means, including through deals, which will increase confidence in the peace process, and if these expectations are not justified, I think it will have the exact opposite effect," said Sahakyan.