Court orders Azerbaijani serviceman who shot Armenian woman held in pre-trial detention

A court has approved the motion to place the Azerbaijani serviceman who illegally crossed into Armenia and shot and wounded a woman in her village home in pre-trial detention amid an ongoing criminal investigation, Investigative Committee spokesperson Kima Avdalyan told Armenpress.

The court has ordered the Azerbaijani citizen Nasimi Rahim oghlu Musayev to be held in pre-trial detention for two months, Avdalyan said.

The Azerbaijani serviceman unlawfully crossed into Armenia and broke into a home in the Shaki settlement of Syunik Province on October 1 and opened fire after being discovered, according to authorities.

The homeowner, a 39-year-old Armenian woman, was wounded in the leg. Musayev fled the scene but was later found at another address in Shaki and apprehended.

The woman was initially hospitalized at the Sisian Medical Center and was later transferred to Yerevan. Her two children, who were with her during the incident, also sought medical assistance. The children, aged 15 and 12, sustained bodily injuries, including a fractured right wrist and a soft-tissue contusion. Their condition was reported as satisfactory.

Armenia’s National Security Service said earlier that Azerbaijan’s State Security Service had informed it on September 29 that an Azerbaijani serviceman had left his place of service and was missing, while not ruling out the possibility that he had illegally crossed into Armenia. Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities subsequently conducted search operations.

Musayev faces charges of illegally crossing Armenia’s state border, smuggling military-use products, firearms and ammunition, illegal trafficking in firearms and ammunition, illegal entry into another person’s residence against their will, and causing grievous bodily harm under aggravating circumstances, including with a firearm.