Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) resident Vagif Khachatryan, who  has been abducted by the Azerbaijani authorities, has declined from the services of his current defense lawyer.

Khachatryan, a participant in the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in the early 1990s, was abducted by the Azerbaijanis this summer while crossing the Lachin corridor into Armenia—and being accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Azerbaijani authorities accused Khachatryan of committing serious crimes for participating in combat operations. But despite these obviously illegal actions, including the abducting of a person under the protection of the ICRC, Khachatryan was not only not released, but is on the bench of convicts.

At Tuesday's court session, Khachatryan announced that he declines from the services of his current defense attorney Natig Beybalayev, APA reported.

And Radmila Abilova was appointed Vagif Khachatryan’s new defense lawyer.