Ombudsman's representatives visit newly-repatriated Armenian troops

PanARMENIAN.Net - Representatives of the Human Rights Defender on Thursday, February 11 visited the five Armenian troops who were recently repatriated from Azerbaijan.

The specialists of Ombudsman's office met the soldiers for a health assessment and interviewed them one by one.

The five servicemen returned to Armenia from Azerbaijan on Tuesday, the deal was negotiated with Russia's help.

Several dozen Armenian POWs returned from Azerbaijan in mid-December, although Armenian officials said many more people were being held in Baku. Dozens of others, both servicemen and civilians, have been captured after the completion of military hostilities. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said in one of his speeches that the newly detained persons are not prisoners of war but “terrorists”. Human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan has said, meanwhile, that at least 120 Armenian prisoners of war are being held in Azerbaijan. Sahakyan represents the rights of some of the Karabakh POWs before the European Court of Human Rights. The lawyer said there is enough evidence proving the capture of said persons, which the Armenian side will submit to international agencies and courts.