Epress.am News from Armenia
Representatives of the family of 31-year old Karen Petrosyan, a resident of Chinari village who died in Azerbaijan in August, petitioned to the European Court of Human Rights asking to speed up the process of transferring Petrosyan’s corpse from Azerbaijan to Armenia.
Epress.am spoke about the application with lawyer Ara Ghazaryan, who represents Petrosyan's family.
“This is not the original application, it’s a motion. In the case that it’s upheld, we can write the main application. We are asking for the European Court to mediate the issue of Petrosyan’s corpse speedy return from Azerbaijan to his family, because it is a violation to the right to life. In addition, the delay in the return of the corpse can also lead to the eradication of the reasons behind his death. In honor of the ECHR, the court has communicated the Armenian side’s motion” – said Ara Ghazaryan.
Ghazaryan further explained that according to the laws of the ECHR, a citizen of any country has the right to present a case against a signatory country to the European Convention of Human Rights, if they believe that country has violated any of the convention’s norms.
On August 22, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan and Chairman of Committee of Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov stated that Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry proposed to the Armenia’s Defense Ministry a willingness to exchange a five-member Armenian family and the corpse of Karen Petrosyan for two Azerbaijanis arrested in NKR, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov, as well as the corpse of Hasan Hasanov. Hasanov also stated that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) transferred the message to the Armenian side, which agreed to the return of the Armenian family and Petrosyan’s body for only Hasanov’s corpse.
In regards to the statement, Armenia’s Ministry of Defense spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan stated;
"We're not yet in Baku's market and we are not engaged in bargaining. We are strictly maintaining our humanitarian principles and don’t present or accept preconditions. In respect to the Red Cross organization’s efforts in regards to this issue, we have regularly applied to the latter’s support for organizing the return of Armenian and NKR citizens.” Hovhannisyan considered Hasanov’s statement to be “vulgar misinformation.”
Chinari village resident Karen Petrosyan was taken captive on August 7 and died within a day. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry claimed that Petrosyan was a saboteur and died due to a heart failure. Armenia’s Defense Ministry stated that Petrosyan was not serving in the military and his family claimed that he did not have health issues. Armenian mass media quickly presented evidence that Petrosyan was not dressed in military attire when he initially crossed the border before he was brought to an Azerbaijani general and brought to his knees.
In the month of July, law enforcement of the NKR’s Karvajar (Kelbajar) region arrested Dilgam Askerov, and released a corresponding video of his arrest. The Armenian media had labeled him the leader of the saboteur group.
Prior to Dilgam Askerov’s arrest, Shahbaz Guliyev was arrested and Hasan Hasanov was killed. Baku defensively claims that the arrested and killed had no connection to the country’s military. The Armenian side has refused to grant the arrested person ‘Prisoner of War’ status.
Nagorno Karabakh’s prosecutor general has accused them for espionage, illegally crossing into NKR’s protected state borders with an organized group, illegal possession of arms and ammunition, kidnapping, murder motivated by ethnic hatred accompanied by kidnapping, and attempted murder of two individuals motivated by ethnic hatred.
In accordance to the official bodies of Karvajar (Kelbajar) region, Askerov and Guliyev kidnapped and murdered 17-year old Smbat Tsakanyan, as well as, 42-year old Sargis Abrahamyan and injured 37-year old Karine Davtyan.