A few days ago, 65-year-old Nelson Alahverdyan watched a video sent by the son in captivity in Baku at the Armenian office of the Red Cross. In an interview with Forrights.am, he said that the video was several minutes long.
“There was a video shot before the trial. We send vidoes and he sends too, but speaking is limited. We go to the Red Cross, watch it, they don’t let us record it. It’s a three-minute video,” said the father, noting that his son also calls home every week, and they have a chance to talk for a few minutes.
“He asks about home, about the children. When we ask him something, he keeps quiet then talks about something else. He had a health problem, related to his stomach. Now, when I ask him how he is, he says he is fine.”
The son is 36-year-old David, who was captured on September 19, 2023 near the village of Sznek. On January 17, the trial of 23 Armenian prisoners, including David, held in Baku began. The footage published by the Azerbaijani side, the ongoing trial, was received by David’s family with pain.
“He was in court that day. We became very distressed. I, as a man, restrain myself, women cannot,” said David’s father.
Azerbaijan has brought serious charges against the Armenian prisoners of war, from terrorism to the formation of illegal armed groups. David’s father considers the charges against his son absurd. He notes that there are people captured with his son from Sznek who have literacy problems; how can they be brought to such serious charges? “Everyone is being tried under the same article, but some people don’t know the letters. They put the same article on them as on the military-political leadership,” he said.
David worked as a lecturer at Stepanakert University, but every month he voluntarily left for the positions to defend his birthplace, Sznek. During the attack of the Azerbaijani army, David was at the positions. He told his family members to leave the village, he would join them later. His elderly parents, wife and minor children left Sznek with great difficulty, along with other residents.
“On September 19, when the war started, we were told a few hours before that there would be an attack. It so happened that the residents of our village were going to positions with the militia for 10 days and then they would go back to their work. After the attack, the village was evacuated, and those who were in the positions stayed behind to leave later. We went to the village of Khachmach: they said it was a safe place. David stayed in the village with his friends. After 2020, the trenches were near our house: he stayed there. He told me take mother and get out of there. We reached Khachmach on foot, through the forest, since the enemy had closed the highway leading to Stepanakert. We somehow got there. From there we moved to Stepanakert at night.
When we were in Stepanakert, and there was no contact with David, I wanted to go back on foot, but the family wouldn’t let me. We thought they were under siege; they would come out. We contacted the Red Cross and rescuers; they searched but didn’t find them. The besieged came back, but the residents of Sznek village were not among them,” the father said.
The father had no information about his son until October 7. They searched among the victims and wounded, but they didn’t find him. Then they received a call from Azerbaijan on October 7.
“They called the wife and said, ‘Do you want to talk to your husband?’ They talked for a couple of minutes, he said, ‘Don’t think about me, stay well,’” the father says, noting that the last time he spoke to his son was before leaving the village; they said goodbye to each other on the evening of September 19.
David’s father does not lose hope that his son will return, but he sees no results in the government’s actions.
“Maybe the leadership is dealing with this issue, but we don’t see any results. “We’ll see if there are results, but they say they’re working on the issue of their return,” he said.
Narek Kirakosyan
