Chalabyan: The Azerbaijani soldier who entered Armenia must be brought to trial and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

ArmInfo. The Azerbaijani serviceman who infiltrated Armenia must be brought to justice in Armenia and punished to the fullest extent of the law. This was stated by Avetik Chalabyan, coordinator of the Hayakve movement, at a press conference in Yerevan on October 2.

He called attention to the fact that the country's authorities had, in fact, known for several days about his possible infiltration into Armenia. "And he was captured not by the Armenian National Security Service, but by residents of the village of Shaki after he had harmed one of them. This demonstrates how abandoned our country's security system, and in this case, Syunik's, has been. The ruling group constantly puts on a show, claiming to be creating a new security environment, but in the end, it turns out that an Azerbaijani conscript can cross the state border with a weapon, wander through Armenia for several days, and not be caught. "It's a great stroke of luck that the resident of the village of Shaki only suffered bodily injuries and that her life is not in danger," Chalabyan said.

He said he only recently learned that a criminal case had been opened for causing grievous bodily harm, carrying an illegal weapon, and crossing the border. However, he said this isn't enough, and it's important that the Azerbaijani be convicted in Armenia. The coordinator of the "Ayakve" movement believes he should receive at least 20 years in prison, if not life imprisonment.

"Only after receiving such a sentence in accordance with Armenian law can we talk about his extradition, exchange, and so on. And of course, in the event of extradition, we should be talking about an exchange (with an Armenian prisoner - ed.), which is not being discussed now. The most important thing now is that he is convicted in Armenia. After all, if an Armenian resident committed something similar, they would certainly be punished." The same should be done with regard to the Azerbaijani citizen. We must also take into account that we still don't know why he ended up on Armenian territory. He may actually be a saboteur, or there may be others who are also currently on our territory. Therefore, I repeat, he must be brought to trial and punished to the fullest extent of the law," Chalabyan concluded.

It should be recalled that Azerbaijani serviceman Nasimi Musayev entered the home of a resident of the village of Shake in the Syunik region and wounded her, which became known on the afternoon of October 1. It later emerged that the woman's two minor children, who were helping their mother defend herself from the attack, were also injured. A statement from the Armenian National Security Service revealed that Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities had been searching for the serviceman in question since September 29, although no security outreach was conducted, and residents of the region were kept in the dark. Furthermore, Azerbaijani media reported that the search for the Azerbaijani serviceman had been underway since September 26. His whereabouts during this period remain unknown. Later, Armenian Health Minister Ananit Avanesyan reported that the woman's condition was stable and that she was receiving the necessary medical care. Initially, competent Armenian authorities opened a criminal case on charges of illegal entry into a home, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, and causing grievous bodily harm committed with the use of a weapon. Only after public outrage did the Prosecutor General's Office also announce the opening of a criminal case on charges of illegally crossing the Armenian state border.