Trial of one of two Azerbaijani soldiers trapped in Armenia begins in Yerevan

Baku/09.06.23/Turan: The trial of Azerbaijani soldier Huseyn Akhundov, who is accused of illegally crossing the Armenian border and killing a watchman in Kafan, begins in Armenia, the Armenian media  reported on Friday.

Soldiers Huseyn Akhundov and Babirov Agshin, who served on the territory of Nakhchivan on the border with Armenia, Azerbaijan, disappeared on April 10 this year. On the same day, the Armenian side reported the detention of one of them in one of the villages of the Syunik region.

At the same time, Prime Minister Pashinyan said that the soldiers voluntarily defected to Armenia because of bullying by their colleagues. He also claimed that the detainee (Babirov) stated that he did not want to return to Azerbaijan, and Armenia did not intend to extradite him.

On April 13, the Armenian side announced the detention of a second soldier (Akhundov), who was accused of murdering a security guard at one of the enterprises near the town of Kafan.

On May 22,  at a press conference  Pashinyan stated that Armenia could return two Azerbaijani soldiers to Baku. "Normalization of relations involves the adoption of complex and important decisions. But such decisions are not taken unilaterally. We are ready to discuss the issue after the completion of legal procedures," he said.

On May 26, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced the detention of two Armenian saboteurs at the border.

Apparently, after the completion of formal trials, two Azerbaijani soldiers will be exchanged for two Armenian ones. ---02D---