AZERI SOLDIER JAILED AFTER ARMENIAN CAPTIVITY
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 16 2007
An Azerbaijani soldier who spent two weeks in Armenian captivity last
December has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of high
treason and desertion, reports from Baku said on Wednesday.
Vusal Garajayev was taken prisoner by Karabakh Armenian forces
after crossing the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact east of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to officials in Stepanakert, he willingly surrendered
himself to escape systematic hazing at the hands of fellow Azerbaijani
servicemen. Karabakh President Arkady Ghukasian said on December 18
that the 19-year-old conscript is reluctant to be repatriated for
fear of government retribution.
"But I am sure the Azerbaijani authorities will put pressure on his
parents and relatives, and they will eventually convince him to come
back. And I assure you that this lad will face lengthy imprisonment
in Azerbaijan," Ghukasian told reporters at the time.
Garajayev was handed back to Azerbaijani side with the help of
the International Committee of the Red Cross one week later. He
was immediately detained and prosecuted, despite the Azerbaijani
Defense Ministry’s earlier claims that he had accidentally strayed
into Armenian-controlled territory.
The Azerbaijani media reported that a military court in Baku
convicted the soldier of high treason, desertion, and violation of
army regulations. No further details were reported.
Garajayev was repatriated one day before another Azerbaijani soldier,
Samir Mamedov, was taken prisoner in the westernmost section of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border under similar circumstances. The
Defense Ministry in Yerevan said he crossed the fortified border
and surrendered to Armenian troops deployed there because of being
mistreated and humiliated by his comrades.
Mamedov is still being kept in Armenia, apparently unwilling to return
to Azerbaijan and face possible prosecution at home. Armenian and Red
Cross officials have said he wants to be granted political asylum in
a European country.