Azerbaijani authorities have announced that the three residents of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) kidnapped in the Lachin Corridor will face a 10-day jail term.

The country’s Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement on Monday, August 28 that the three men will not face criminal prosecution and instead imposed “administrative punishment in the form of a 10-day detention”, after which they will be “deported from Azerbaijani territory.”

Three residents of Nagorno-Karabakh were detained by Azerbaijani security forces on Monday while traveling to Armenia through the Lachin corridor.

Karabakh officials identified the men as Alen Sargsyan, Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon Grigoryan. They were kidnapped at the Azerbaijani checkpoint blocking the corridor as they were escorted by Russian peacekeepers along with other Karabakh civilians.

Since December 12, 2022, the sole road connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia - the Lachin Corridor - has been blocked by Azerbaijan. Baku tightened the blockade on June 15, 2023, banning emergency relief supplies that were carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential items experienced by the region’s population. On August 15, Karabakh Human Rights Defender’s office reported the first case of death from starvation.