Azerbaijani Intruder Kills Security Guard of ZPMC: Prosecutor's Office Details

The charges against Azerbaijani citizen Huseyn Akhundov have been modified and supplemented by order of the supervising prosecutor. The Prosecutor's Office has released the following statement:

“On April 17, the Prosecutor General’s Office informed that public criminal prosecution had been launched against Azerbaijani citizens Agshin Babirov and Huseyn Akhundov, who have been detained. It has also been clarified that, in the course of the criminal proceedings conducted by the Investigation Department of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia, it was revealed that Azerbaijani citizen Huseyn Akhundov, on April 12, 2023, at the security checkpoint of ‘Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine’ closed in the community of Shgharak, Kapan district, Syunik province, with the aim of stealing the mobile phone and vehicle of Armenian citizen H.M., fired shots from a firearm that was unlawfully in his possession at H.M., who was providing security at the checkpoint. H.M. died on the spot from the injuries sustained.

Subsequently, with the direct intent of completing his criminal intentions, Akhundov stole the mobile phone, cigarettes, and lighter that had fallen next to H.M.’s body, attempted to start the engine of the parked vehicle, but failed and fled the scene. After leaving the scene, Akhundov recorded a video message using the stolen mobile phone, stating: ‘(...) Thank God we successfully reached Armenia and beheaded 400 to 500 Armenians; we are not traitors, and we hope to return successfully to Azerbaijan (...)’.”

Akhundov then downloaded an internet application on the stolen mobile phone and published the recorded video message on his social media page. After that, he walked towards the village of Achanan in Syunik province and was discovered on April 13, 2023, by passersby who, upon realizing he was a member of the Azerbaijani armed forces, neutralized him and handed him over to Armenian law enforcement agencies.

Based on the factual data obtained in the criminal proceedings, on April 18, 2023, the investigator submitted a motion to modify and add to the public criminal prosecution against Huseyn Akhundov and to initiate a new public criminal prosecution, which was accepted the same day by the supervising prosecutor. The public criminal prosecution launched against Huseyn Akhundov under points 2 of part 3 of Article 469, part 1 of Article 340, and part 2 of Article 335 of the Armenian Criminal Code has been amended, supplemented, and a new public criminal prosecution has been initiated for actions that endanger society, including illegal crossing of the state border of Armenia by a group of persons in premeditated agreement, illegal transportation of firearms and ammunition across the state border of Armenia, illegal possession and transportation of firearms by a group of persons in premeditated agreement, with the motive of facilitating the commission of another crime, and unlawfully depriving another person of life due to motives of national hatred, intolerance, and animosity.

It should also be noted that on April 17, 2023, the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia submitted reports regarding the injuries recorded during Huseyn Akhundov's entry into the penitentiary to the Prosecutor General’s Office on the same day, which were forwarded to the Investigative Committee to resolve the issue of initiating criminal proceedings to clarify the circumstances of the injuries sustained. On April 18, as per point 5 of part 2 of Article 195 of the Armenian Criminal Code (physical coercion by a group of persons), criminal proceedings were initiated.