Azerbaijani serviceman did not resist arrest, says Armenian PM

The Azerbaijani serviceman detained in the Shaki settlement of Syunik Province did not resist at the time of his arrest, despite being armed, PM Nikol Pashinyan has said.

“The Azerbaijani serviceman, who had a firearm in his possession, did not resist at all at the time of his arrest. As far as I understand, he had also sustained some injuries, and perhaps that is also why certain footage was not released,” the Prime Minister said in parliament when asked about the matter.

Armenia’s National Security Service said last 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 that he could have crossed into Armenia. Armenia and Azerbaijan conducted a search operation. 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 at her home in the Shaki settlement in 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 earlier last week that the woman was in stable, non-life-threatening condition and was 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 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.

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