BAKU — A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced a Lebanese-born Armenian national Viken Euljekian to 20 years in prison on Monday seven months after he was detained by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Euljekian, travelled to Karabakh with a Lebanese-Armenian friend, Maral Najarian, on November 10 hours after a Russian-brokered ceasefire stopped last year’s Armenian-Azerbaijani war. They were detained in the Karabakh town of Shushi and taken to Baku.

Euljekian, who lived in Shushi and worked as a taxi driver before the war, was accused of being a terrorist and mercenary and illegally entering Azerbaijan. Najarian risked similar accusations before being released and repatriated in early March.

Euljekian, who has dual Armenian and Lebanese citizenships, was found guilty after a short trial condemned by Armenia’s government and human rights groups as a travesty of justice.

Liparit Drmeyan, an aide to Armenia’s representative to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said Euljekian did not have access to lawyers chosen by him and the Azerbaijani authorities failed to substantiate the charges leveled against him.

Drmeyan said the Armenian government will appeal against the verdict in the Strasbourg-based court. “We are convinced that Azerbaijan has violated Viken Euljekian’s rights,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Euljekian is one of more than 100 Armenian soldiers and civilians believed to remain in Azerbaijani captivity. Yerevan regularly demands their immediate release, citing the terms of the truce agreement.

Baku has branded the remaining Armenian detainees as “terrorists” not covered by the agreement. At least 42 of them are facing what the Armenian Foreign Ministry condemned last week as “trumped-up criminal charges.”

1 comment
  1. Typical turkbaijani behavior. I am not surprised. They have learned their lessons from the Young-Turks and Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Where are the nations of Europe and the West who talk on human rights? I pray for Viken and the other “terrorist’s”. Do you want to help these innocent detainees go and beg in front Pres. Putin…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Get notified of the latest updates from MassisPost.

You May Also Like

Sam & Sylva Simonian: Tech Pioneers Advancing Armenia & AUA

Sam and Sylva Simonian are two of the most notable names trailblazing…

Film “1915” To Shed Light on Forgotten Genocide of 1.5 Million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey

LOS ANGELES — In honor of the 100th anniversary of the forgotten…

Turkish PM Calls for “a New Beginning” with Armenias

ISTANBUL — Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has called on all Armenians…

Acclaimed Turkish Writer Yasar Kemal Passes Away

ISTANBUL — One of modern Turkey’s most celebrated literary figures, Yasar Kemal,…