BREAKING: Azerbaijani authorities detain ICRC evacuee en route from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia

YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani authorities have detained an elderly man who was being evacuated by the International Community of the Red Cross (ICRC) from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for treatment, Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan said Saturday.

The patient is a 68-year-old citizen of Nagorno-Karabakh. The detained patient has been taken to another location by Azerbaijani authorities.

Nersisyan said that a representative of the ICRC is now with the detained citizen.

“At this moment the ICRC representative is with our citizen, but the negotiations haven’t produced any results so far, we are waiting for new information,” Nersisyan said.

Other patients have been evacuated to a hospital in Goris by a Red Cross representative who arrived from Goris. The evacuation was carried out via the same route. However, the planned return of those who have completed treatment in Armenia has been cancelled.

Nersisyan said that the Azerbaijani authorites were always trying to obstruct the ICRC medical evacuations by bringing forward new conditions, and that this move was yet another step to make people fear using Lachin Corridor even for essential healthcare purposes.