Friday, September 29 2023 17:28

ArmInfo. The State Security Service of Azerbaijan arrested Major General David Manukyan,  Azerbaijani media reported on September 29.

It is noted that Manukyan "was detained on suspicion of terrorist  activities in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan." The court chose a  preventive measure against David Manukyan in the form of arrest for a  period of 4 months.

David Manukyan previously served as deputy commander of the  Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. He is the brother of the Armenian  National Assembly member from the Hayastan bloc Gegham Manukyan.  On  September 27, while crossing a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor, the  Azerbaijani border service detained philanthropist, social and  political figure, businessman and former Minister of State of Artsakh  Ruben Vardanyan. Later, the court arrested Vardanyan for a period of  four months, charging him with trumped-up charges of "financing  terrorism." He faces 14 years in prison. On September 28, Advisor to  the President of Nagorno-Karabakh, former Minister of Foreign Affairs  of the unrecognized republic, David Babayan, wrote on his Facebook  page that the Azerbaijani side demanded his arrival in Baku for a  "relevant investigation" and that he decided to left for  Shushi.  Yesterday, the media reported the capture of the ex-commander of the  Artsakh Defense Army, Lieutenant General Levon Mnatsakanyan, at a  checkpoint on the road from Artsakh to Armenia.

Earlier, the RFE/RL's Armenian Service, citing Reuters, reported that  Azerbaijan has a list of arrests of about two hundred Armenians from  Nagorno-Karabakh.