Elderly ex-hostage's state satisfactory, no news on relative in Azeri captivity

March 17, 2014 - 16:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The medical state of Mamikon Khojoyan, 77, recently released from Azeri captivity is relatively satisfactory, doctors say, according to Panorama.am.

Head of traumatology unit of Yerevan’s St. Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center Karen Manukyan stated that Khojoyan is already able to walk and speak.

“He will undergo surgery this week,” the doctor said.

No news on the elderly man's relative Arsen Khojoyan, 23, who was taken captive by Azeris is yet available, with the Red Cross following developments in the case, Aysor.am said quoting the representative of Yerevan Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Zara Amatuni said.

Against Legal Abuse NGO will apply to international organizations to defend the interests of the recently released Armenian captive Mamikon Khojoyan.

As the head of the organization, ex-MP Larisa Alaverdyan told a Thursday, March 6 news conference, Knojoyan's case will be brought to the attention of the European Court of Human rights, with a number of legal experts to be involved. The NGO intends to raise international awareness of the tortures Khojoyan was subjected to while in Azeri captivity, Armenia Today reported.

The 77-year-old man was tortured during his more than month-long captivity and needs to remain in hospital for the time being, doctors and his relatives said.

Baku has claimed all along that the elderly resident of Verin Karmiraghbyur, an Armenian village close to the Azerbaijani border, was armed and acted as a guide for an Armenian “sabotage squad” that tried to carry out a cross-border incursion.

The Armenian military and the village administration have laughed off these claims, saying that Khojoyan suffers mental disorders and strayed into Azerbaijani territory by accident. Some Azerbaijani analysts have also brushed aside the official Azerbaijani version of his detention.

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