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ICRC reps meet with Armenian football players detained at Lachin border post

01 September 2023 13:33 (UTC +04:00)

“On August 30-31, the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited 3 football players detained on August 28,” Head of the Public Relations Department of the ICRC office in Baku Ilaha Huseynova told APA.

She noted that they were met in private and were given opportunity to contact their families.

Note that, the Armenian football players insulted Azerbaijani flag in December 2021.

The criminal case has been initiated due to Armenian football players disrespectful actions towards the State Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan under the articles 283.2.3 (Inciting national, racial, social, or religious hatred and enmity committed by organized group) and 324 (Violation of the National Flag or the State Emblem of the Republic of Azerbaijan), the investigation was entrusted to Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office. (link: https://genprosecutor.gov.az/az/post/4644).

Due to sustainable suspicions, it was decided to involve the citizens of the Republic of Armenia - Alen Sargsyan, born in 2001, Vahe Hovsepyan, born in 2003, and Levon Grigoryan as accused persons under the mentioned articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. However, since their whereabouts were unknown at the time, an international arrest warrant was issued by the court.

As a result of the conducted search measures, on August 28, the mentioned individuals were detained by the military personnel of the State Border Service at the Lachin border crossing point of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border.

Detained individuals have been provided with their defense rights, and during the interrogation, they sincerely expressed remorse for their actions and pledged not to engage in such activities in the future.

Considering the age of the accused individuals, their sincere remorse, and compliance with the requirements of procedural legislation, the principle of humanism has been applied, and the criminal prosecution against them has been terminated.

Additionally, despite the fact that the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Information, Informatization, and Protection of Information" prohibits posting information that openly calls for national, racial, or religious hatred and enmity, these individuals, having filmed their actions on video, posted this content on the "YouTube" channel and other Internet resources. In connection with these actions, administrative proceedings were initiated under Article 388-1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses by the relevant decision of the Prosecutor General's Office. By the court's decision, administrative arrest for ten days was imposed on the individuals.