Expert on Baku affairs Tatevik Hayrapetyan writes:

“An attack on the life and security of a citizen of Eastern Armenia must have legal consequences. Today, it became known that a serviceman of Baku’s armed forces, who illegally crossed Armenia’s state border, shot an Armenian woman in the leg in the village of Shaki in Syunik. He has been arrested, and criminal proceedings have been initiated in connection with the incident.

This case must also be considered in the context of previous precedents. In 2019, with the assistance of the ICRC, the Armenian authorities returned Elvin Ibrahimov, a citizen of Baku who had illegally crossed Armenia’s state border, to Baku, officially describing the decision as a ‘humanitarian gesture.’

In 2023, Huseyn Akhundov was also returned to Baku. He had killed 56-year-old Hayrapet Meliksetyan in Armenia and had been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Today, the repetition of such a precedent must be ruled out. An attack on the life and security of a citizen of Eastern Armenia cannot end with the perpetrator being returned to Baku on ‘humanitarian’ grounds.

This case must be investigated with the full rigor of the law, and if found guilty, the perpetrator must serve the punishment prescribed by law.”