Wife of Lebanese-Armenian POW Being Held in Azerbaijan Says She Will ‘Fight to the End’ – Asbarez.com

BY JASMINE SEYMOUR
Particular to Asbarez

A routine month-to-month cellphone name from Azerbaijan’s infamous jail quickly turned a scream from hell on Friday, November 18. The chilly, repulsive detention facility, some 25 miles from Baku, has gained the popularity as having the best suicide charges amongst inmates on the planet, even amongst native convicts. At the very least three Armenian prisoners of battle presently are incarcerated there, after going through sham, unfair trials in the summertime 2021 at Baku Court docket of Grave Crimes.

In the course of the much-awaited phone name, the household of Vicken Euljekjian in Beirut was surprised by the jail feud on the finish of the road. The issue being that Vicken, an Armenian-Lebanese hostage in Azerbaijan, was denied to speak along with his Lebanese spouse Linda in Arabic, her native language.

“I heard individuals screaming at Vicken telling him that he can solely communicate in Armenian. They’d no translator from Arabic, solely from Armenian. Vicken shouted again at them saying ‘what else are you going to do to me? I’m already useless!’ I’m extraordinarily frightened about him, they may punish and beat him! Then they dangle the cellphone in a short time”, Linda defined.

A number of hours later, Vicken was allowed to name again from jail only for one minute. Shaking and sobbing Linda – Vicken’s spouse of twenty-two years – had simply sufficient time to guarantee him she would do something for his launch. “My coronary heart simply melted, when he known as me yavriges (my magnificence), it made me so blissful,” a tearful Linda mentioned shortly after the traumatic incident.

Two years after his arrest close to Shushi, there isn’t any signal from the Azerbaijani authorities that Vicken Euljekjian will return to his household any time quickly. A number of Armenian POWs who’ve been returned lately have testified that the situation of fellow hostages held illegally in Azerbajani prisons differs. Some are in a position to endure the bodily and psychological mistreatment, others give up faster to psychological abuse, and those that resist and protest towards the disrespectful and degrading therapy, are additional tortured by Azerbaijani jail employees. There’s sufficient proof to substantiate that the psychological and bodily well being of Vicken Euljekjian is trigger for deep concern to say the least.

The story of Vicken and Linda may be very very similar to Romeo and Juliet: boy meets woman, households strongly disagree to their union, in order that they determine to run away and get married in a church. As soon as Linda was baptised within the Holy Savior Armenian Catholic Church, the couple bought married in the identical church. Solely as a substitute of Verona, this love-story was set in Beirut’s Armenian neighborhood of Bourdj Hammoud.

“I got here to work in an Armenian retailer in Bourdj Hammoud in 2000, and at some point Vicken walked by means of the doorways to purchase a pair of denims. It was love from first sight. I used to be so younger, and my mother and father had been against our relationship. I used to be solely 17 and Vicken was 18,” Linda mentioned from her tiny Beirut flat that she shares with Vicken’s mom, their daughter Christine and a dozen or so cute cats that she has rescued.

Whereas the media appears to have lined the Armenian POW disaster a good quantity when it started, there are much less and fewer reviews concerning the steady nightmare that households of Armenian POWs, whose human rights have been violated prior to now two years.

On Friday, Linda went on the Lebanese nationwide tv decided to struggle till the tip.

In her interview with the NBCR, Linda acknowledged that the final cellphone name with Vicken was the toughest as a result of he couldn’t say a lot and he was very distraught shouting “I’m useless, I’m useless.” She believes that his well being has deteriorated since final summer time, as he’s being pressured to not communicate to his household about his bodily and psychological well being.

The Lebanese authorities has been intensively engaged on Vicken Euljekjiancan’s case for the previous nearly two years. Hassan Abbas, Lebanon’s Ambassador to Iran, is overseeing the negotiations with the Azerbaijani aspect for Vicken’s launch, as there isn’t any Lebanese Embassy in Baku.

The International Ministry has additionally reassured the household that they’re following the case carefully. Ghadi Khouri, the Head of the political affairs of the International Ministry, has addressed the Azerbaijani Ambassador to inquire concerning the case however the Ambassador’s stance was unfavorable. The household is likewise asking Lebanese diplomats to go to Vicken in his jail bringing him some consolation and hope.

“I do know Vicken’s well being just isn’t good,” Linda instructed the Lebanese tv on Friday.

“For certain he couldn’t discuss in any respect as a result of they prevented him to talk Arabic with me and my Armenian language is relatively fundamental. Right now the cellphone dialog with him was very powerful as he couldn’t communicate and that is one thing that was upsetting him and the road bought minimize off,” continued Linda within the interview. “I simply need somebody to assist me. Vicken is harmless and has nothing to do with what has occurred. I would like the Lebanese state and everybody to face by our aspect till Vicken is launched.”

There are at the very least 113 Armenian POWs and civilian hostages in Azerbaijani captivity, based on human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, who represents a number of households of hostages on the European Court docket of Human Rights. 5 extra POWs had been launched in early September, following the US authorities intervention. Sahakayn mentioned that at the very least 35 new hostages had been taken in the course of the army Azerbaijan’s assault on Armenia on September 13. Later in October, 17 our bodies of the latest captives had been returned to Armenia. They had been brutally murdered by Azerbaijani troopers on digicam after being captured and disarmed. Amongst them had been 5 females troopers, a number of of whom had been tortured to dying. A number of instances of these atrocious battle crimes have been already delivered to worldwide courts.

Jasmine Seymour is the founder and head of the British-Armenian humanitarian group, which from November 2020 has campaigned to lift consciousness of the grotesque humanitarian disaster plaguing Armenian hostages and their distraught households. Signal the petition calling for launch of all Armenian POWs.