Armenian authorities arrest missing serviceman`s uncle - opposition  MP

ArmInfo. Armenian authorities have arrested for a month the uncle of Arsen Ghukasyan, a soldier missing in action in the 44-day war. National Assembly member Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the opposition "I Have the Honor" faction, announced this on his Facebook account. 

The deputy noted that the man under arrest is a man who, along with  other parents and relatives, fought for the rights and fate of the  young men killed or missing in action during the 2020 war. Meanwhile,  he claims, Armenian authorities are doing everything possible to  mislead parents, assuring them that they (the authorities - ed.) are  doing everything possible to find and clarify the fate of the missing  soldiers. However, Abrahamyan is convinced that this is actually a  major deception.

"I know at least five parents who were sent to prison by the  authorities simply because they were persistent, demanding, and  consistent, fighting for justice and truth. People who took up arms  and went to the front at a crucial moment for the country deserve the  utmost respect, but despite this, the ruling regime does the exact  opposite - it belittles their role and persecutes their family  members and loved ones," the opposition leader concluded.

As a reminder, the uncle of a missing serviceman was arrested after  throwing a bottle at a military police officer during a protest  outside the Armenian Ministry of Defense. Apijan Sargsyan, the father  of a missing serviceman in 2020, was also detained, but was later  released on bail. Following the arrests, relatives of the missing  servicemen held a protest in front of the government building in  Armenia, expressing their belief that the detentions were intended to  silence them.

It is worth noting that the exact number of Armenian prisoners of war  and hostages held in Azerbaijani prisons remains unknown. According  to the latest data from the International Committee of the Red Cross  (ICRC), as of August 2024, approximately 1,000 people are considered  missing on the Armenian side, with approximately 300 of these  individuals reported missing following the latest escalation in the  Nagorno- Karabakh conflict zone between autumn 2020 and autumn 2023.  All data was collected by the ICRC based on requests from relatives  of the missing. The ICRC also reported that among these 300  individuals, there are several dozen requests concerning cases where  the family disagreed with the DNA data provided by the state.