Criminal prosecution initiated against Azerbaijani serviceman who shot Armenian woman

The Prosecutor General’s Office said on October 2 that criminal prosecution has been initiated against the Azerbaijani serviceman who crossed the border into Armenia and shot and wounded an Armenian woman in her home in a village.

The Azerbaijani national, Nasimi Rahim oghlu Musayev, faces charges under Article 469, Part 1 (illegal crossing of Armenia’s state border); Article 340, Part 1 (smuggling of military-use products, firearms, ammunition and other items specified by law); Article 335, Part 1 (illegal trafficking in firearms, their main components, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices); Article 207, Part 1 (illegal entry into another person’s residence against their will); and Article 166, Part 2, Clauses 4 and 6 (causing grievous bodily harm under aggravating circumstances, including by a method dangerous to the life or health of others and with a firearm).

According to information published by the Prosecutor General’s Office, at around 2 p.m. on October 1, Azerbaijani serviceman Nasimi Musayev illegally entered a house in the Shaki settlement of Sisian municipality and, after being discovered, fired shots from a firearm. Armenian citizen A.A., born in 1987, was wounded.

Musayev fled the scene, was subsequently found at another address in Shaki, detained at 3:30 p.m., and handed over to the investigative body conducting the preliminary investigation.

Armenia’s National Security Service said on Thursday that it had been notified by Azerbaijani authorities earlier, on September 29, that an Azerbaijani serviceman had allegedly gone AWOL and was missing. The Azerbaijani side did not rule out the possibility that he could have crossed into Armenia. A search operation was conducted by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Later, on October 1, Armenian emergency services received a report that an Armenian citizen, a 39-year-old woman, had been shot in the leg in her home in the Shaki settlement of Syunik Province. Authorities determined that the Azerbaijani serviceman was the shooter, and he was apprehended shortly afterward in Shaki and detained.

Meanwhile, health authorities said on Friday that the woman is in non-life-threatening condition and is receiving the required treatment. She was transferred to Yerevan after being initially hospitalized in Sisian. The Sisian Medical Center reported that the injured Armenian citizen’s children, who were with their mother during the incident, aged 15 and 12, had sought medical assistance for bodily injuries. The 12-year-old child had a soft-tissue contusion, while the 15-year-old child had a fracture of the right wrist. Health authorities said Friday that the children are in satisfactory condition.