Maral Najarian, who was captured by Azerbaijani forces in Berdzor while collecting her personal belongings to evacuate, is still held captive in Azerbaijan since November 10th of last year.
Her fate and whereabouts were practically left in the dark until recently when representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) managed to have access to check on her.
According to the ICRC, Maral is “doing fine” whatever fine could mean in such a situation where the person is considered a prisoner of war.
Maral had relocated to Artsakh after the Beirut Explosion of August 4th to then find herself in front of another explosion, the Nagorno-Karabakh military conflict, which eventuated with the surrendering of Artsakh to Azerbaijani forces.
With her area of residence was surrendering as part of the November 9 agreement, Maral was rushing to collect her belongings to evacuate but didn’t make it on time and was captured by the Azerbaijani forces.
She was arrested along with fellow Lebanese-Armenian Viken Euljekchian, who has been charged since then with several alleged crimes, including terrorism, according to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.
Maral’s sister, Ani Najarian, said that the ICRC was given the opportunity to visit Maral in captivity, after which the humanitarian organization contacted her family to inform them that she was doing fine.
Rumors spread on social media that Maral was released, which prompted her sister Ani to debunk the fake news and urged social media users to stop spreading that rumor as the fate of her sister hangs by a thread.
As of yet, there have been no reports regarding any measures taken to facilitate Maral’s release.