Armenia Appeals to European Court to Protect Vagif Khachatryan's Rights

An application for the protection of Vagif Khachatryan's rights has been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights, demanding interim measures against Azerbaijan, reported Armenia's representative on international legal issues, Yeghishe Kirakosyan. He stated, "We will provide further updates on the developments" on his Facebook page.

It is noteworthy that on July 29, Azerbaijani border guards prevented 68-year-old Vagif Khachatryan from passing through the Lachin corridor, while he was being transported by an ICRC vehicle accompanied by his daughter to a healthcare facility in Armenia. For several hours, nothing was known about his fate as he was taken in an unknown direction.

Later, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan announced Khachatryan's arrest, accusing him of alleged war crimes committed in 1991. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has characterized the actions of the Azerbaijani border guards as abduction, while Armenia's Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan has labeled the incident as a grave violation of international humanitarian law, noting that Vagif Khachatryan was under the protection of the International Red Cross Committee.

Additionally, he was not wanted internationally, and the statement disseminated by the Azerbaijani Prosecutor's Office (claiming that a decision was made to detain Khachatryan by an Azerbaijani court in December 2013 and that he was declared internationally wanted) does not correspond to reality, the defender pointed out. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also addressed the abduction of Vagif Khachatryan.