There Are No 'Lost Soldiers' from Armenia in Azerbaijan, Says Siranush Sahakyan

There are no "lost soldiers" from Armenia (as phrased by Charles Michel) in Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani individuals who recently crossed the Armenian border cannot be labeled as lost either. Therefore, it is possible that these two Azerbaijani soldiers might be exchanged for several Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan. This was stated by Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of Armenian prisoners' interests in international organizations and the president of the Center for International and Comparative Law, in an interview with Sputnik Armenia.

Recall that after the trilateral meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, Michel, and Aliyev on May 14 in Brussels, Charles Michel announced that several detained individuals would be released in the coming weeks. He emphasized that these soldiers simply lost their way and crossed to the other side.

“There are those who have been taken captive in war, those who were abducted the day after the November 9 announcement, and, of course, those captured in Khzraberd through Azerbaijan's misdirection and other encirclements. The soldier who lost their way and crossed the border, coming under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces, is not included among those known 33 individuals,” she stated.

Sahakyan emphasizes that the two Azerbaijani soldiers who crossed the Armenian border cannot be considered lost, as it would distort the facts. It is clear that the Azerbaijani soldiers crossed the border intentionally, and moreover, lost individuals typically do not commit serious crimes or murder.

However, she assesses the likelihood of an exchange deal as very high in light of political arrangements. “We also have a bad precedent in which two Azerbaijani saboteurs who were convicted and serving their sentence in Shushi were exchanged for Armenian prisoners of war. And I believe that the November 9 announcement has also given a broad definition concerning prisoners, hostages, and others held in captivity, including those held for serving a sentence. Now I see the prerequisites for this, and in the presence of political agreements, such transactions can certainly occur,” she mentioned.

Despite this, Siranush Sahakyan observes that Azerbaijan is persistently trying to present its soldiers as lost and organize their repatriation in exchange for a few Armenian prisoners of war.

“Here, there has merely been a transaction. Under different circumstances, international organizations might not have exerted the same persistent effort with the aim of pressure. Now, since Azerbaijan is also an interested party, they have simply smoothed out the sharp edges of the conversation and managed to mature a common approach that in exchange for the return of Azerbaijani soldiers, the Azerbaijani side will also return certain Armenian prisoners of war,” she added.

Taking into account the fact that there is already a court ruling against one of the aforementioned Azerbaijanis, Sahakyan clarifies that if extradition occurs through legal mechanisms, Armenia may extradite them to a third country for serving their sentence, contingent upon Azerbaijan's request being fulfilled. In this case, no European official would be authorized to intervene, as national courts have discretion here.

“This is the competent legal mechanism, but if they are speaking about an exchange, it is an exchange resulting from political agreements, for which no specific legal mechanisms will be triggered,” she stated.