A criminal case has been initiated regarding the kidnapping of a citizen of the Republic of Artsakh. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office of Artsakh.

“On July 29, at about 10:20, at the checkpoint established in violation of the requirements of Paragraph 6 of the Tripartite Statement of November 9, 2020, on the Hakari bridge of the [Berdzor] Lachin Corridor, which provides communication between the [Artsakh] Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the Republic of Armenia, during passport control of Vagif Cherkesovich Khachatryan, a resident of the village of Patara, [Mayraberd] Askeran region of the Republic of Artsakh, traveling on official ICRC Mercedes-Benz Sprinter with registration number 37 NN 253, unknown servicemen of the Republic of Azerbaijan openly abducted him [V. Khachatryan] on ethnic grounds, against his will, and with the use of violence.

The National Security Service of Artsakh opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 418 (crime against human security).

The supervision over the legality of the pre-trial criminal proceedings of the case and the judicial management is carried out by the senior prosecutor of the Artsakh General Prosecutor's Office,” the statement says.