Ex-POW Identifies Azeri Saboteur in Court

Shahbaz Guliyev (R) and Dilham Askerov (third from L), Azerbaijani men charged by Karabakh’s authorities with sabotage, stand before a court in Stepanakert. (Photo: RFE/RL)

STEPANAKERT—Artsakh Defense Army serviceman Hakob Injighulyan, who was abducted and held captive by Azerbaijan for a year, has been questioned as a witness Thursday during a court hearing of the case of two members of an Azerbaijani commando group who made an incursion into Artsakh, killing one teenage boy and injuring another woman.

Video footage was found in the possession of the members of the group during their detention, including a video of Hakob Injighulyan’s interrogation, Artsakhpress reports.

The former prisoner of war spoke about his captivity in neighboring Azerbaijan and the circumstances of his crossing the border. Injighulyan said he crossed into Azerbaijani territory after he lost his bearings.

According to Injighulyan, he was kept in a solitary cell in Baku’s military prison. He was systematically beaten and humiliated. Threats to shoot Injighulyan were used to make him tell representatives of the Red Cross and the UN that he was reluctant to return to Armenia.

Hakob Injighulyan recognized the now-deceased member of the group, Hasan Hasanov, as an offier of Azerbaijan’s special forces who was present at his interrogations.