Yerevan gathers information after reported hospitalization of Armenian captive in Azerbaijan
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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday that his administration is gathering information regarding the condition of one of the Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan, who was reportedly hospitalized after what the Azerbaijani government described earlier this week as a sharp deterioration in his health.
“Our agencies are collecting and sharing information regarding Vagif Khachatryan’s health condition, and at this moment I cannot provide any information beyond what is already publicly known,” Pashinyan said at a press briefing when asked about the reports.
Vagif Khachatryan, a resident of Karabakh, was detained by Azerbaijani security forces while being evacuated to Armenia by the International Committee of the Red Cross for treatment during Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. He is one of the 23 confirmed Armenian captives and detainees still held by Azerbaijan.
Khachatryan, 70, was sentenced by an Azerbaijani military court to 15 years in prison for alleged war crimes committed during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early 1990s. He has denied the charges. The court proceedings and charges have been widely described as fabricated and sham trials.
The Pashinyan administration has repeatedly said that it is making daily efforts to secure the release of all Armenian captives and detainees held in Azerbaijan.