“I deny all those episodes; all the statements about my father are lies,” Vera Khachatryan, the daughter of Vagif Khachatryan, who was kidnapped from Artsakh, said in an interview with “Aravot,” referring to the writing of Azai Karimov, a reserve officer of the Azerbaijani army, a participant in the First Karabakh War. Karimov wrote that he met Vagif Khachatryan in the hospital.
“Although his real name is Vagif, everyone knew him by the nickname Vladik at that time. On May 15, 1991, we caught Vagif (Vladik) along with four other militants. I beat him myself; he recalled that incident during the meeting. After Vagif was arrested by us and sent to Shushi prison, at night, he bit his left hand with his teeth to bleed to death. That scar is still on his hand. Three months later, prosecutors and investigators sent from Baku to Shusha sold Vagif to Armenians for a large sum. And in December, he took part in the Meshali tragedy.
He also actively participated in the Khojaly pogroms that took place in February 1992,” he wrote. Then, in his post, Karimov turned to Vagif Khachatryan’s daughter, Vera Khachatryan. “Vagif is treated well here; the food is decent, and he is under the constant supervision of doctors. Vagif himself said something, but you should say specifically: indicate the places of mass burial of 150 residents of Khojaly, 21 residents of Malibeyli and Gushchular, and 147 missing persons near Shusha. If you give this information to the Azerbaijani side, you will lighten Vagif’s punishment. Now, Vera, it is your turn to speak; we await information.”
In a conversation with “Aravot,” Vera Khachatryan said all the accusations attributed to her father are fabricated. “Like all the accusations that have been made against my father until today, all the information presented by this person is also not true,” said Vera Khachatryan. “The fact that my father was allegedly called Vladik, there was no such thing; he was never addressed as Vladik. There is no scar on his hand; I did not notice that there was a scar on his hand. And in general, all that information does not correspond to reality,” added Vera Khachatryan.
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Referring to Azai Karimov’s appeal to her to show the “places of mass burials,” Vera Khachatryan said: “Such places cannot exist.” Vera Khachatryan added that they still need to discuss the details of this post with their lawyer.
Let us remind you that Vagif Khachatryan, born in 1955, a resident of the Patara community of the Artsakh Republic, who was transferred from Artsakh to Armenia for medical treatment accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross, was kidnapped from the Azerbaijani illegal checkpoint located in the Berdzor corridor. 68-year-old Vagif Khachatryan has cardiovascular disease and was transferred to Nork Marash Medical Center in Yerevan for surgery.
According to the charge of the Azerbaijani side, Vagif Khachatryan allegedly created a criminal group, which, on December 21, 1991, participated in operations against the population of the Meshali, Khojaly region. Vagif Khachatryan was arrested in Baku and charged with “genocide” and “displacement or forced resettlement of the population.”
Vera Khachatryan informed that about ten days ago, Vagif Khachatryan had a 2-minute phone call with family members. “He was also excited, I was too, I was not waiting for his call. I was asking about him, he was asking about us, I was telling him to stay well, he was telling us to stay well, stay strong,” he said.
According to Vera Khachatryan, they have no information about the health condition of their father because they could not discuss this issue during the phone call.
Roza HOVHANNISYAN
