Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have met with an Armenian man who was detained by Azerbaijani authorities last month after crossing into Azerbaijan in still unclear circumstances.
The Azerbaijani military claimed to have captured the 43-year-old Zaven Karapetian while thwarting an Armenian incursion into Azerbaijani territory on June 20. A televised video circulated by it showed him presenting himself as a resident of Dovegh, a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province, and saying that he works for an Armenian army unit stationed in the area.
The Armenian Defense Ministry was quick to deny that Karapetian is a serviceman. For their part, residents of Dovegh said that they do not know him.
According to the Armenian police, Karapetian resided in Vanadzor, an Armenian city around 130 kilometers southwest of Dovegh. A police statement also said that he has a history of mental disorders.
An ICRC spokeswoman in Yerevan, Zara Amatuni, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that the Azerbaijani authorities allowed officials from the Red Cross office in Baku to visit Karapetian in custody on Saturday. Amatuni declined to give details of their conversation with the Armenian captive.