On January 14, Azerbaijan transferred four Armenian captives—Davit Davtyan, Gevorg Sujyan, Vicken Euljeckijan, and Vagif Khachatryan—to Armenia. The National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia stated that the return took place within the framework of the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“The process was carried out as a practical result of the peace established between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the NSS message said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the prisoners were handed over via the Hakari bridge by Azerbaijani authorities to Armenian representatives and were being transported to Yerevan.
A few days ago, Lebanese-Armenian Vicken Euljeckjian, whose health had significantly deteriorated in captivity, wrote to his wife asking her to postpone their son’s wedding.
On December 22, the health of 70-year-old Artsakh resident Vagif Khachatryan, who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Azerbaijan, sharply worsened and he was hospitalized. Khachatryan was abducted at a checkpoint illegally placed on the Hakari bridge while the Red Cross was transporting him to Armenia for emergency heart surgery.
In November 2020, after hostilities ended in Artsakh, it became known that Gevorg Sujyan, founder of the New Armenia Homeland-Diaspora charitable NGO, and his friend Davit Davtyan were captured on the Berdzor–Shushi road while delivering aid to Artsakh. In 2021, an Azerbaijani court sentenced them to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage.
