ICRC on Karen Ghazaryan`s case: Decision to release the detainees and  return them to homeland should be made by Nagorno-Karabakh conflict  parties 

ArmInfo.The decision to release and return the detainees to their homeland belongs to the  parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Head of the Communication  Programs of the ICRC Delegation in Yerevan Zara Amatuni said in an  interview with ArmInfo correspondent, referring to the situation  related to the Armenian captive Karen Ghazaryan.

At the same time, she stressed that the ICRC, as a neutral intermediary,  is ready to provide support in this matter. "The ICRC continues to  regularly visit all detainees of the conflict in accordance with its  mandate.  According to its mandate, the ICRC visits detainees to  monitor treatment and conditions of detention, and also helps ensure  that detainees are in contact with their families," Amatuni said.

To recall, on July 15, Karen Ghazaryan entered the territory of  Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side announced about "preventing attempts  of sabotage penetration", as well as the capture of a soldier Karen  Ghazaryan (born in 1984). Spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry  Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that Karen Ghazaryan does not serve and has  never served in the army. However, this did not prevent Azerbaijan  from declaring Ghazaryan a "saboteur" and starting a trial.

The trial against Ghazaryan caused indignation of Ghazaryan's  relatives. In this regard, on November 17- 18, Ghazaryan's relatives,  as well as his fellow villagers blocked the road, demanding that the  authorities return Karen Ghazaryan from Azerbaijani captivity.

Karen Ghazaryan's mother stated that they have no choice but to  organize protests. "My innocent son in Azerbaijan was declared a  saboteur, he is being judged and the verdict will be passed on Nov  20. We have waited for 4 months, but in vain. We were simply forced  to take these radical measures. We demand that the Defense Ministry,  the Prime Minister, who is authorized to resolve this issue, finally  take steps'', she said.

Earlier, Spokeswoman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Anna Naghdalyan  said that Yerevan expected that Baku would arrange this kind of  staging show. "Attempts were made to make the show, present Ghazaryan  as a" saboteur, " but considering the health problems of the citizen  of Armenia, because of which the latter was released from military  service, this show was a fiasco. This trial grossly violates the  provisions of international humanitarian law. "Naghdalyan said,  adding that Baku is trying to put an equal sign between Ghazaryan and  those who have committed serious crimes - Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz  Guliyev, who are serving a sentence in Artsakh. However, according to  her, despite all this, appropriate work is under way to return  Ghazaryan to his homeland.  To recall, on November 6 in Azerbaijan,  the trial of Armenian citizen Karen Ghazaryan, who was captured this  summer, began. Court takes place in Ganja. Ghazaryan is accused of a  crime against public security, a crime against constitutional order  and security of the state.