The court denied the petition of the investigative body to arrest N. Y., one of the servicemen who were returned to Armenia from Azerbaijani captivity on December 4 and now have the status of a defendant. His lawyer, Karmen Poghosyan, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am, adding that the court left the decision to choose another measure of restraint against the accused to the discretion of the body conducting the proceedings.

The lawyer also informed that the court, however, granted the petition to arrest S. A., another of the aforesaid soldiers with the status of a defendant.

There is no information yet on the petitions to arrest the other three servicemen with the status of defendants.

The press secretary of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, Vardan Tadevosyan, had told Armenian News-NEWS.am that five of the ten captives who were returned to Armenia on December 4 had been charged and that petitions to arrest them had been submitted to the court.

These soldiers are charged under Article 365, Part 3 of the Criminal Code; that is, violating the rules of military duty or military service, which has caused serious consequences.

On December 4—and through the mediation of the Russian side—Azerbaijan had returned to Armenia ten Armenian servicemen who were captured during the battles in the eastern border of Armenia on November 16, and they were transported to Yerevan by a plane of the Russian defense ministry.

On November 23, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had told an online press conference that criminal cases had been opened and the circumstances of each case of captivity shall be found out.