ICRC Meets with Vigen Euljekchyan, Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison in Baku

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have visited Vigen Euljekchyan, a Lebanese-Armenian held in Azerbaijan. This information was confirmed to Sputnik Armenia by the ICRC office in Armenia. The meeting reportedly took place on April 3.

“On April 3, a meeting in a private format was held in accordance with ICRC procedures. He was given the opportunity to make a phone call to his family,” the office reported.

It is worth noting that Vigen Euljekchyan has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Baku. Reports had circulated on social media that he had been tortured to death in one of Baku's prisons. Following this, his wife, Linda Euljekchyan, wrote an open letter addressed to leaders of the UN, European Union, Council of Europe, OSCE, Presidents of the United States, France, Germany, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and human rights organizations. In her letter, she requested international human rights organizations and global leaders to clarify whether her husband was alive or had died.

Vigen Euljekchyan's family has had no news from him since January 27, 2023. He is facing charges in Azerbaijan for 'mercenarism', 'terrorism', and 'illegal crossing of the state border of Azerbaijan'. It is also known that Euljekchyan acquired Armenian citizenship in 2015 and moved from Yerevan to Shushi in 2019. He and Maral Najaryan were captured by Azerbaijani soldiers on November 10, 2020.