Epress.am News from Armenia
Georgian media reports that Allahverdi Pelengov, a Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani descent, has been tortured in Armenia are untrue, Pelengov's attorney Rafik Safaryan told Epress.am.
The 44-year-old resident of the village of Burma on Aug. 17 was detained by Armenian border guards and is currently being held at a RA National Security Service (NSS) detention center.
"He is in good health. He has pleaded guilty for committing the act for which he is being charged. An investigation is underway," said his attorney.
Safaryan declined to respond to other questions, advising the press to call the investigator.
Defending the Georgian citizen is the Public Council for the Defense of Pelengov, which was established in the village of Tekali, Georgia, from a discussion among locals, human rights defenders, activists, and journalists on Sept. 14. This council is not so optimistic regarding the state of the detainee, as Pelengov is deprived of the right to receive information. The council has appealed to the NSS on several occasions, asking for a meeting with Pelengov but has been refused.
As the Public Council for the Defense of Pelengov's Armenian coordinator, human rights defender Georgy Vanyan told Epress.am, the council appealed also to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of both Armenia and Georgia, but it has yet to receive a response from any of these government bodies.
On Aug. 22, Vanyan also appealed to the RA Human Rights Defender's Office, asking that a rapid response team of human rights defenders be sent to visit Pelengov. "The only thing the Ombudsman's office did is to call and verify the detainee's nationality," he said.
Till now, the detainee has been allowed only to meet with his nephew. According to Vanyan, Pelengov was arrested where, in fact, there is no border between Armenia and Georgia and where a person who finds himself, regardless of his citizenship, might become a target.
According to Vanyan, arresting Pelengov indicates an attempt to place the Armenia-Georgia border within the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, and Armenian security services do not have the autonomy to prevent this process.