02/10/2014 11:17
Former POW Hakob Injughulyan returns to Yerevan from third country
Hakob Injughulyan, an Armenian serviceman who was held in Azerbaijani captivity for over a year and later handed over to a third country, has returned to Yerevan on the night of October 2.
He told reporters that the decision about his transfer to a third country was taken by the Azerbaijani side.
“In order to have an opportunity to return to the homeland, I gave consent to be handed over to a third country, otherwise they threatened to shoot me. I was subjected to violence in captivity, they beat and humiliated me. Prior to each interview with representatives of the Red Cross, I was instructed what to say and how, they read my letters to my family. The decision to return to Yerevan was my personal decision. I always wanted to return to Armenia,” Injighulyan said.
He confirmed that on the night of August 8, 2013 he crossed into Azerbaijani territory because he lost his bearings in the area.
“I was told that if I did not do what they said, I would suffer the fate of the chaban (editor: the matter concerns 19-year-old Armenian citizen Manvel Saribekyan who was killed in Azerbaijani captivity, although by Azerbaijan’s official version, he committed suicide). They threatened to shoot me. No third country exists to me. There is only Armenia for me,” Injighulyan said.
In his words, all his interviews with Azerbaijani television which were conducted in violation of the Geneva Convention are the result of pressure.
Injighulyan said that during the year he spent in captivity, a doctor visited him only once.
“It was at the beginning when I was captured. I was beaten at that time and a doctor visited me the following day,” Injughulyan noted.
According to him, he intends to continue service in the army after undergoing a medical checkup.