Artsakh human rights defender reports return of three kidnapped students by Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, September 7. /ARKA/. Three students kidnapped by Azerbaijan in August have been returned to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan reported.

"On September 7, at around 17:45, the Azerbaijani side returned, accompanied by Russian peacekeeping troops, students Alen Sargsyan, Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon Grigoryan, who were kidnapped and illegally imprisoned while moving from Artsakh to Armenia on August 28," Stepanyan wrote on his Facebook page.

He noted that an investigation will be conducted into the details of the students' kidnapping, treatment and health condition during their illegal imprisonment by Azerbaijan.

"The kidnapping and arbitrary imprisonment of civilians, particularly Vagif Khachatryan, Rashid Beglaryan, Alen Sargsyan, Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon Grigoryan, as well as Azerbaijan's investigation of false and fabricated criminal cases, unequivocally prove that the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint located near Khakari Bridge is a direct and undeniable threat to Artsakh's civil society," Stepanyan wrote.

He noted that the so-called checkpoint has turned into a tool to serve Azerbaijani criminal arbitrariness, with the help of which Azerbaijanis kidnap civilians and deprive them of their freedom, keeping 120,000 people under siege.  

According to Azerbaijani media, the students were “arrested” because of being on a wanted list by Azerbaijani authorities since 2021 for allegedly “dishonoring the Azerbaijan flag.”

They were sentenced to serve 10 days in prison. -0-