AZERI SOLDIER RELUCTANT TO BE REPATRIATED

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YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS:Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arkady Ghukasian told yesterday after a meeting with EU special representative to the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby that an Azerbaijani soldier who was taken prisoner by Karabakh Armenian forces on December 7 was handed to representatives of the Red Cross International Committee who are negotiating his repatriation with Azeri officials. But Ghukasian added that the soldier claimed to have been mistreated by his commanders and fellow conscripts and did not not want to be repatriated. The Azeri soldier, Vusal Garajayev, was detained after crossing into the Armenian-controlled territory east of Karabakh near Agdam on December 7. Ghukasian said he was sure that the Azeri soldier would tell Red Cross officials he does not want to be repatriated, but Azeri authorities will place pressure on his parents and after all force the soldier to come back to send him to prison.

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