Seventy-year-old Vagif Khachatryan has been hospitalized. According to Azerbaijani sources, his condition sharply deteriorated; he experienced shortness of breath and heart pain. First aid was provided by prison doctors, but resuscitation measures did not lead to any positive dynamics, and during the night he was transferred to a state medical facility.
Emil Hasimov, head of the intensive care unit at the “Yeni Klinika” hospital, told the Azerbaijani APA agency that 70-year-old Khachatryan was urgently hospitalized during the night of December 23, 2025, in serious condition, with diagnoses of aortic stenosis, moderate mitral stenosis, and decompensated chronic heart failure, which led to the development of pulmonary edema and severe respiratory failure. Emil Hasimov reported that the measures carried out in the intensive care unit, including drug treatment, yielded positive results.
It is impossible to obtain reliable information about Vagif Khachatryan’s health condition even through international organizations. The Baku office of the ICRC was closed in September at the demand of the Azerbaijani authorities. At present, the only source of information is Dr. Hasimov of “Yeni Klinika.” We only know that he had serious heart problems from the time Azerbaijani security forces removed him from an ICRC vehicle. Khachatryan was traveling from blockaded Artsakh to Yerevan on doctors’ instructions for urgent heart surgery.
Siranush Sahakyan, director of the Center for International and Comparative Law, told “Azatutyun” that Vagif Khachatryan’s illness was generally incompatible with deprivation of liberty. “It has been recorded, including thanks to the activities of the ICRC, that the person had a serious illness, moreover, the transfer was due to the need for urgent medical intervention. Vagif Khachatryan’s health problem was related to the cardiovascular system, which indicates immediate life-threatening risks,” said the human rights defender.
The Azerbaijani authorities are responsible for Vagif Khachatryan’s life, Sahakyan emphasizes. Azerbaijan is obliged to regularly provide information to the European Court about the health condition of persons held in its country. As of November 4, Baku was obliged to send data on the health condition of prisoners to Strasbourg, but according to Siranush Sahakyan, the process was deliberately delayed, and a new deadline has now been set for early January.
It should be recalled that Baku sentenced 70-year-old Vagif Khachatryan, who has serious health problems, to 15 years of imprisonment. He is accused of participation in the so-called “Meshali genocide.” They even found 60 alleged victims who, more than 30 years after the alleged events, supposedly saw and remembered Khachatryan.
According to Azerbaijani sources, the “Meshali tragedy” occurred on December 23, 1991, during the first Karabakh war. According to official information from the Azerbaijani side, on that day Armenian servicemen allegedly attacked the village of Meshali, Azerbaijani volunteer groups offered resistance, and as a result of the exchange of fire, 28 people were killed and 14 were wounded.
From the outset, Vagif Khachatryan’s family and human rights defenders have insisted that these statements are blatant falsehoods and that Vagif Khachatryan was an ordinary driver.