The man, Sargis Galstian, and his wife were among a few dozen Karabakh Armenians who did not flee to Armenia following last September’s Azerbaijani military offensive that triggered the mass exodus of Karabakh’s population.
Galstian is a veteran of the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan who held various Karabakh leadership positions in the following decades. His decision to stay in Stepanakert fueled speculation that he is collaborating with Azerbaijani authorities. Galstian did not publicly explain it. It is also not clear why he ultimately decided to leave Karabakh together with his wife.
Sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday that the couple entered Armenia through the Lachin corridor last Friday. According to Armenia’s Investigative Committee, Galstian was remanded in custody and charged with espionage the following day.
“In the interests of the investigation, additional information cannot be released at this point,” said Gor Abrahamian, the committee spokesman.
Galstian and his wife were escorted to the Armenian border by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Zara Amatuni, an ICRC spokeswoman in Yerevan, said it acted in accordance with “the will and desire of those persons.”
“In total, we have helped more than 50 people voluntarily move to Armenia [from Karabakh] since October,” Amatuni told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Galstian’s nephew Davit is a prominent Karabakh politician who is now exiled in Yerevan along with other Karabakh Armenian leaders. Davit Galstian insisted on Wednesday that he lost contact with his uncle in September and did not know that the latter decided to move to Armenia.