Karabakh soldier beheaded alive by Azeri troops during 4-day war

PanARMENIAN.Net - One of the Armenian soldiers killed by Azerbaijani troops during the 4-day war in early April was decapitated while still alive, the Nagorno Karabakh Prosecutor General's office said Thursday, June 30.

The Azerbaijani army unleashed overt military actions against Karabakh on April 2, with a number of fatalities registered on both sides. Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a verbal agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Moscow on April 5.

From April 2-10, the Prosecutor General's office launched 6 criminal cases into the Nagorno Karabakh army soldiers' murder and the torture of their bodies.

3 separate criminal cases were opened over the decapitation of Kyaram Sloyan, Hrant Gharibyan and Hayk Toroyan. The latter was beheaded while still alive.

2 criminal cases were initiated over the murder of Rafik Hakobyan and Aghasi Asatryan, Andranik Zohrabyan and Robert Abajyan.

Another one was launched over the torture of the bodies of 15 fallen Karabakh servicemen, with the Azerbaijani troops having cut certain parts of their body, including either or both of the ears, one or several of their fingers, while one of the Armenian soldiers' eye was removed.

Nagorno Karabakh's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons on April 10 exchanged bodies of fallen soldiers with the Azerbaijani side near the settlement of Bash Karvend.

In the presence of a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Commission registered that all bodies transferred by the Azerbaijani side had signs of torture and mutilation.