A Lebanese-Armenian national has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Azerbaijan after having been arrested in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Vicken Euljekjian, 41, had been facing charges of terrorism and crossing the border to Azerbaijan illegally.
He was accused of receiving a sum of $2,500 to fight in the 2020 conflict, against Azerbaijan, in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Euljekjian had traveled to the disputed region back in November, shortly after a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, brokered by Russia, took effect.
He was detained on November 10th by Azerbaijani forces near the city of Shusha.
Euljekjian’s family has maintained that he is neither a terrorist nor a mercenary, explaining that while he did volunteer to fight for Armenia in 2020, he never partook in the fighting.
He was charged under Article 114.3 (participation of a mercenary in a military conflict or military operation), Article 214.2.1 (terrorism committed by a group of persons, an organized group, or a criminal organization), and Article 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan).
His sentencing comes nearly 2 years after he moved to Armenia from Lebanon, in November 2019, a year after receiving Armenian citizenship.
Armenia has condemned Euljekjian’s verdict, and the Armenian government is reportedly planning to appeal it.
