Civilnet
Following the trilateral meeting between President Serzh Sargsyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on August 10, Armenia’s President Sargsyan gave an interview to ArmNews TV. Here we present a portion from that interview.
The death of 31-year-old Karen Petrosyan, a resident of Chinari village, who was in Azerbaijani captivity will be on the conscience of the Azerbaijani people. This was President Serzh Sargsyan’s response to the question of whether the villager’s death constitutes a war crime during an interview on ArmNews TV.
“Today I addressed the president of Azerbaijan in the presence of the Russian president and said it was shameful to kill such people. He said they did not kill him. I asked why would a 31-year-old man, as I am aware, under the influence of alcohol, cross the border and die there? He said: ‘Well, maybe he was scared to death.’ But we have to be reticent. War is not a joking matter, it doesn’t recognize irreverent treatment,” said Serzh Sargsyan, calling on residents of border villages to be vigilant, because they have to deal with an "angry, furious enemy."
On August 8, the Azerbaijani media, quoting the Azerbaijani defense ministry, announced that Karen Petrosyan, who was captured by Azerbaijani armed forces on August 7, died suddenly of “acute cardiovascular failure” while in captivity in Baku.
As Chinari village mayor Samvel Saghoyan had earlier informed CivilNet, Karen Petrosyan, a resident of Chinari village, Tavush province, born in 1981, had inadvertently crossed the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border on August 7, and was captured around 12:00 PM. The Azerbaijani media portrayed him as a saboteur.
The State Commission of the Republic of Armenia on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People called on international organizations to demonstrate consistency while carrying out "a full and impartial investigation” surrounding Karen Petrosyan's death.
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