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Former POWs to stand trial for "high treason" in Azerbaijan
Ekho, Baku
18 Aug 05
Azerbaijan has charged three former POWs with high treason and they
will stand trial in late August, Azerbaijani Ekho newspaper has said.
In an interview with the newspaper, independent military expert
said the Defence Ministry circulated conflicting reports about the
disappearance of the soldiers, first saying they lost their way and
then announcing that they had crossed over to Armenia to cooperate
with its secret services. The expert argues if it was so easy for
"callow youths" to cross over to the enemy's territory, it mustn't
be too difficult for Armenian intelligence to come and commit acts
of sabotage in Azerbaijani territory either. The following is an
excerpt from R. Mammadov's report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on
18 August headlined "The soldiers charged with high treason are most
likely innocent" and subheaded "This supposition has been voiced by
military expert Uzeyir Cafarov and rights campaigner Eldar Zeynalov";
subheadings have been inserted editorially:
As is known, the saga of three Azerbaijani soldiers who were taken
prisoner by the Armenian side lasted from February till May of this
year. Then, the Defence Ministry tried to explain their delaying return
by Armenia's reluctance to honour its international commitments. The
attempts to have them released with the aid of international
organizations, such the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC),
and the state commission for prisoners of war under the Azerbaijani
National Security Ministry also remained futile.
POWs face high treason charges
The soldiers, however, were released in May. After some time, another
report came like a bolt from the blue. It emerged that the three
soldiers of the Tartar [District] garrison - Sgt Ruslan Bakirov,
Pte Xayal Abdullayev and Pte Hikmat Tagiyev - are charged with
high treason (article 274), defection (334.3), breach of combat
duty regulations (338.1) and abuse of power (341.3). According
to investigation materials, the soldiers crossed over to Armenia
in the Tartar direction in February and entered into contact with
Armenian secret services. In May, they were arrested and the case was
considered by the Tartar military prosecutor's office. A preliminary
hearing of the case is due at the court for grave military crimes on
25 August. The hearings will be presided over by Qadim Babayev.
Such reports are clearly surprising. Azerbaijani soldiers have
been taken prisoner in the past as well, but never before have they
faced such serious charges. Ekho has asked the Defence Ministry for
an explanation, but the head of its press service, Ramiz Malikov,
urged us to send all queries to law-enforcement agencies.
"Our services inquired about them and started an investigation,
but I don't have specific information about what happened to them
afterwards. You should ask law-enforcement bodies," he said.
Independent expert doubts Defence Ministry's theory
"The facts that have been made public are very surprising and
regrettable," says independent military expert Uzeyir Cafarov.
"First of all, when the soldiers were taken prisoner, the Defence
Ministry could not confirm that for a long time. Then it started
saying an investigation is under way. Then it finally acknowledged
that the soldiers lost their way and were taken prisoner. The head of
the Defence Ministry's press service said that even our officers can
lose their way in combat conditions. In other words, they initially
said that three soldiers lost their way, but now they are saying that
they deliberately crossed over to Armenia and purportedly agreed
to cooperate with the Armenian secret service. We all remember the
Armenians promising to release the soldiers soon, then saying that
it would happen by the Novruz Bayrami [holiday, 20-21 March], but
eventually things lasted till May," Cafarov said.
"The soldiers have now been officially charged with espionage and
breach of combat duty regulations. The question is where our [special]
services obtained this information and how they managed to have such
suppositions verified," the expert said.
Independent commission should inquire into the issue
If the trial of the soldiers is open, we will be able to find out
the details, Cafarov says.
"But I am afraid the trial will be held behind closed doors under
the pretext that at issue is the disclosure of military secrets. I
don't really believe the Armenian secret service managed to agree
something with these callow youths who accepted their offer. Let me
recall that as this case caught the public eye, our warrant officer
Ramin Xudaverdiyev, called up for service by the Ganca enlistment
office, was taken prisoner early this month. And the Defence Ministry
wasn't the first to find out about that. Only after the ICRC informed
the soldier's parents did the Defence Ministry start to investigate
this fact. Before that, the military command was concealing this
information," Cafarov said.
"I can't understand how one can cross a mined area in order to
intentionally fall into the hands of the Armenians. How can it be that
after 10 years of a cease-fire it is so easy to cross over to the
enemy? It means it is quite possible for the Armenian intelligence
to cross over to our territory in the same way and carry out acts
of sabotage here. These are very serious and worrying issues. It is
not enough to conduct an in-house investigation the Defence Ministry
has launched, it is necessary to set up an independent commission to
carry out a thorough investigation because at issue is the security
of our borders," the military expert said.
The circumstances in which three former POWs were brought to book also
seem quite surprising for well-known rights campaigner Eldar Zeynalov.
"I have to say first of all that when someone is released from
captivity, it is done with the mediation of the ICRC. Employees of the
Red Cross ask each of the POWs confidentially if they want to return
to their country of origin. If they don't, a different procedure is
engaged - the search for the third country starts. In other words,
if these three really wanted to betray their motherland for which
they defected the army in order not to come back, then why did they
return of their own accord? This seriously impugns the theory of the
investigation that they ran away and turned themselves over to the
Armenians of their own volition.
[Passage omitted: the rights activist recalls other incidents when
Azerbaijani servicemen were taken prisoner]
Ekho, Baku
18 Aug 05
Azerbaijan has charged three former POWs with high treason and they
will stand trial in late August, Azerbaijani Ekho newspaper has said.
In an interview with the newspaper, independent military expert
said the Defence Ministry circulated conflicting reports about the
disappearance of the soldiers, first saying they lost their way and
then announcing that they had crossed over to Armenia to cooperate
with its secret services. The expert argues if it was so easy for
"callow youths" to cross over to the enemy's territory, it mustn't
be too difficult for Armenian intelligence to come and commit acts
of sabotage in Azerbaijani territory either. The following is an
excerpt from R. Mammadov's report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on
18 August headlined "The soldiers charged with high treason are most
likely innocent" and subheaded "This supposition has been voiced by
military expert Uzeyir Cafarov and rights campaigner Eldar Zeynalov";
subheadings have been inserted editorially:
As is known, the saga of three Azerbaijani soldiers who were taken
prisoner by the Armenian side lasted from February till May of this
year. Then, the Defence Ministry tried to explain their delaying return
by Armenia's reluctance to honour its international commitments. The
attempts to have them released with the aid of international
organizations, such the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC),
and the state commission for prisoners of war under the Azerbaijani
National Security Ministry also remained futile.
POWs face high treason charges
The soldiers, however, were released in May. After some time, another
report came like a bolt from the blue. It emerged that the three
soldiers of the Tartar [District] garrison - Sgt Ruslan Bakirov,
Pte Xayal Abdullayev and Pte Hikmat Tagiyev - are charged with
high treason (article 274), defection (334.3), breach of combat
duty regulations (338.1) and abuse of power (341.3). According
to investigation materials, the soldiers crossed over to Armenia
in the Tartar direction in February and entered into contact with
Armenian secret services. In May, they were arrested and the case was
considered by the Tartar military prosecutor's office. A preliminary
hearing of the case is due at the court for grave military crimes on
25 August. The hearings will be presided over by Qadim Babayev.
Such reports are clearly surprising. Azerbaijani soldiers have
been taken prisoner in the past as well, but never before have they
faced such serious charges. Ekho has asked the Defence Ministry for
an explanation, but the head of its press service, Ramiz Malikov,
urged us to send all queries to law-enforcement agencies.
"Our services inquired about them and started an investigation,
but I don't have specific information about what happened to them
afterwards. You should ask law-enforcement bodies," he said.
Independent expert doubts Defence Ministry's theory
"The facts that have been made public are very surprising and
regrettable," says independent military expert Uzeyir Cafarov.
"First of all, when the soldiers were taken prisoner, the Defence
Ministry could not confirm that for a long time. Then it started
saying an investigation is under way. Then it finally acknowledged
that the soldiers lost their way and were taken prisoner. The head of
the Defence Ministry's press service said that even our officers can
lose their way in combat conditions. In other words, they initially
said that three soldiers lost their way, but now they are saying that
they deliberately crossed over to Armenia and purportedly agreed
to cooperate with the Armenian secret service. We all remember the
Armenians promising to release the soldiers soon, then saying that
it would happen by the Novruz Bayrami [holiday, 20-21 March], but
eventually things lasted till May," Cafarov said.
"The soldiers have now been officially charged with espionage and
breach of combat duty regulations. The question is where our [special]
services obtained this information and how they managed to have such
suppositions verified," the expert said.
Independent commission should inquire into the issue
If the trial of the soldiers is open, we will be able to find out
the details, Cafarov says.
"But I am afraid the trial will be held behind closed doors under
the pretext that at issue is the disclosure of military secrets. I
don't really believe the Armenian secret service managed to agree
something with these callow youths who accepted their offer. Let me
recall that as this case caught the public eye, our warrant officer
Ramin Xudaverdiyev, called up for service by the Ganca enlistment
office, was taken prisoner early this month. And the Defence Ministry
wasn't the first to find out about that. Only after the ICRC informed
the soldier's parents did the Defence Ministry start to investigate
this fact. Before that, the military command was concealing this
information," Cafarov said.
"I can't understand how one can cross a mined area in order to
intentionally fall into the hands of the Armenians. How can it be that
after 10 years of a cease-fire it is so easy to cross over to the
enemy? It means it is quite possible for the Armenian intelligence
to cross over to our territory in the same way and carry out acts
of sabotage here. These are very serious and worrying issues. It is
not enough to conduct an in-house investigation the Defence Ministry
has launched, it is necessary to set up an independent commission to
carry out a thorough investigation because at issue is the security
of our borders," the military expert said.
The circumstances in which three former POWs were brought to book also
seem quite surprising for well-known rights campaigner Eldar Zeynalov.
"I have to say first of all that when someone is released from
captivity, it is done with the mediation of the ICRC. Employees of the
Red Cross ask each of the POWs confidentially if they want to return
to their country of origin. If they don't, a different procedure is
engaged - the search for the third country starts. In other words,
if these three really wanted to betray their motherland for which
they defected the army in order not to come back, then why did they
return of their own accord? This seriously impugns the theory of the
investigation that they ran away and turned themselves over to the
Armenians of their own volition.
[Passage omitted: the rights activist recalls other incidents when
Azerbaijani servicemen were taken prisoner]