BAKU. March 19
The Azerbaijani State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to facilitate the return home of a mentally disabled resident of the Qazakh district who crossed the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and was injured by Armenian servicemen.
"The state commission asked the ICRC to help return home resident of the Qazakh district Elvin Ibrahimov. It is noted in the address that Ibrahimov is a mentally disabled person and is retarded," the state commission said in its address.
The State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons stresses "the need of carrying out the all-for-all exchange of prisoners."
The Azerbaijani State Border Service has earlier said that Ibrahimov had attempted to cross the Armenian border.
"A number of Armenian media outlets reported the arrest of an Azeri citizen on border crossing charges. In view of these reports, the Service hereby informs that on the night of March 15-16 there was an instance of state border violation by an unknown individual from Azerbaijan. This unknown man turned out to be Elvin Arif oglu Ibrahimov, born 1986, from the village of Salahli, Qazakh district. An inquiry found that he had a Group II disability and suffered from a mental disorder," the agency said.
The Azerbaijani citizen was unarmed during the attempt at illegal Armenian border crossing, the Armenian defense minister's spokesman, Artsrun Hovhannisyan said on Saturday.
"On March 16, at around 1:30 p.m., Armenian servicemen detected, warned and disarmed after disobeying the warning an unidentified individual, who had violated the state border of the Republic of Armenia, in the northeastern sector of the border," Hovhannisyan said on Facebook.
"After sustaining a gunshot wound to his lower limb, the man received first aid and was taken to a medical facility. His life is not in danger," he said.
According to the documents found on the trespasser, he is Elvin Arif oglu Ibrahimov, a resident of the Qazakh district, Azerbaijan, born in 1986. The investigative department of the Armenian National Security Service has initiated a criminal case, the inquiry is underway, Hovhannisyan said.