A criminal case against the Armenian military detained at the border

Baku/27.05.23/Turan: The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan filed  a lawsuit against two  soldiers of the Armenian armed forces detained by Azerbaijani border guards on May 26. A joint statement issued on May 27 by the State Border Service (SBS) of Azerbaijan and the country's Prosecutor General's Office reveals details of the circumstances of the detention of the Armenian military.

According to the press release, on May 26, the violation of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan was stopped by a sabotage group of the Armenian armed forces in the area passing through the village of Razdaria in the Zangilan district and two of its members were detained.

During the investigation conducted by the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, there were substantial suspicions that Armenian Armed Forces servicemen Hovakimyan Harut Yuriki, Ghazaryan Karen Ashoti and others, united by prior agreement on May 26 at about 16.00, tried to illegally enter the territory of Azerbaijan with weapons and ammunition bypassing border checkpoints and customs points.

The sabotage group planned actions "to undermine public security", "killing and harming people's health on the basis of national enmity", committing an armed attack on Azerbaijani border guards, terrorist acts, etc.

In connection with the above, a lawsuit has been filed under the  Article 206.3.2 (smuggling of weapons and ammunition by a group of persons by prior agreement), 214.2.1 (terrorism by prior agreement), 214.2.3 (terrorism using firearms), 228.2.1 (illegal trafficking of weapons by a group of persons), 283.2.1 (committing actions aimed at inciting national enmity with the use of force) and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border by a group of persons using force) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The investigation is entrusted to the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, the message goes on.

Based on the collected evidence, Hovakimyan and Ghazaryan were detained as suspects and put under investigation, the press release of the SBS and the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan further emphasizes.

Currently, the necessary investigative actions are continuing.

Additional information will be provided to the public about the course of the investigation and the results, the press release concludes.

It should be noted that according to the totality of these Articles of the Criminal Code, the Armenian military faces up to 20 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment in Azerbaijan.

Earlier, in April of this year, Azerbaijani soldiers Agshin Babirov and Huseyn Akhundov, who got lost in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, were detained in Armenia. They were accused of illegally crossing the border with weapons.

On May 8, Babirov was sentenced to 11.5 years in prison. Akhundov, who is also accused of murder, remains under investigation. ---06B---