As Much as He Wants, Nagiyev Can't Find My Sources in Azerbaijan: Shahnazaryan

On January 20, during the latest episode of Satik Seyranyan's "Pressing" program, former director of the National Security Service (NSS) and former special ambassador David Shahnazaryan revealed the actual number of Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan and the whereabouts of Lebanese-Armenian Maral Najaryan. As reported by Pastinfo, some of his statements have caused a stir in Azerbaijan.

"Today there are 235 prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. Among them are also civilians and women. Moreover, according to Azerbaijan, there are 171 prisoners of war and 64 'terrorists', as they call them. These figures are extremely important and instead of hiding them, the authorities should have raised them in all international platforms, including with the Red Cross. I repeat, it’s a crime as long as there is even one Armenian in Azerbaijani prisons to engage in any negotiations," he said.

Speaking about the whereabouts of Lebanese-Armenian Maral Najaryan, he indicated that since Azerbaijan has officially acknowledged her captivity, this is why it makes an exception; currently, nothing else has been disclosed regarding other captives. "They were kidnapped on November 10, along with a relative of their family, Vigen Ekuajyan. The Gobustan prison is located about 70 km from Baku. It is a very large prison with several branches. Maral Najaryan is in building 3, on the 2nd floor, cell 213 of Gobustan prison. The authorities do not have this information; let them use it," Shahnazaryan stated.

It turns out this has raised serious noise in Azerbaijan. A source close to Russian intelligence services has informed 168.am that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has demanded the head of the State Security Service, Ali Nagiyev, to conduct a serious investigation to identify the leak's source and report back to him.

"As much as he wants, let Nagiyev search; he will not be able to find my sources in Azerbaijan," David Shahnazaryan laughed in response to the website's request for comment on the information.