Vicken Euljekjian, an Armenian civilian illegally detained in Azerbaijan since 2020, has staged a hunger strike in prison in Baku, after being denied the right to call his wife. It is the second time he has resorted to a hunger strike over the conditions of his imprisonment.
The wife of Armenian detainee in Azerbaijan, Vicken Euljekjian, has confirmed reports that he staged a two-week hunger strike demanding the right to speak to her on the telephone.
Linda Euljekjian told an Armenian television channel that her husband was eventually permitted to speak to her, but only for a few seconds. It’s the first time she has heard his voice since February, when the Red Cross facilitated a call. In early March, Azerbaijan banned the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from operating in Azerbaijan, meaning it could no longer visit prisoners.
“We last spoke to him through the Red Cross in February, and then we learned that [ICRC] visits were banned,” Linda told 5 TV Channel, in an interview uploaded to YouTube on May 11. “I’m exhausted; I can’t sleep at night when I think about the conditions in which Vicken is being held.”
Call cut short
Linda told 5 TV she had heard nothing since then, until she suddenly received a phone call from an unknown number. It was Euljekjian. He told her he had been on a hunger strike for 15 days, demanding the right to speak to his family. “Then the line went dead,” Linda said. She told the television channel she was worried, not knowing whether her husband had ended his hunger strike.
Linda contacted a Red Cross representative, who was surprised to hear about the call and promised to try to find out more. But she has heard nothing since.
According to Linda, Euljekjian was unaware that Azerbaijan had closed the ICRC office in Baku. Until recently, the ICRC maintained contact with those illegally detained in Azerbaijan, providing a vital link between the prisoners and their families. Baku’s decision to close the office leaves the detainees even more vulnerable.
Urgent appeal to the ICRC
It was the Buenos Aires chapter of the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR) that first drew attention to Euljekjian’s hunger strike in a post on X on May 8. SOAR attached an urgent appeal it had sent to the ICRC regarding access and communication rights for prisoners in Azerbaijan.
“Vicken Euljeckjian… has been waging a silent but deeply painful protest through a hunger strike that has now lasted over 15 days. His demand is heartbreakingly simple: a phone call to his wife, Linda. One call — a basic human connection — is all he seeks,” the SOAR letter stated.
Under international humanitarian law, prisoners have a guaranteed right to communicate regularly with their families, the letter pointed out. Yet this right has been denied to the 23 Armenians confirmed to be held by Azerbaijan after being captured during its attacks on Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 and 2023.
“Parents, children, spouses, and siblings have been left in paralyzing uncertainty — not knowing whether their loved ones are safe, cared for, or even alive. The mental and emotional toll of this silence cannot be overstated,” the letter stated.
The letter concluded, “We respectfully and urgently call on the International Committee of the Red Cross to use all diplomatic and humanitarian means at its disposal to restore access to detainees in Azerbaijan.”
Deteriorating health
Euljekjian, aged 45, is a citizen of both Armenia and Lebanon who relocated to Nagorno-Karabakh from Lebanon in 2020 to start a business. However, that September he left again for Armenia when Azerbaijan launched the second large-scale war in Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 10, 2020, the day after a ceasefire came into effect, he was returning to collect some possessions when the Azerbaijani military captured him.
Nearly seven months later, a court in Baku sentenced Euljekjian to 20 years’ imprisonment on trumped-up charges of acting as a mercenary, terrorism, and illegally crossing the Azerbaijani state border.
Throughout his time in prison, the authorities have reportedly denied Euljekjian access to proper food and medical care, resulting in weight loss and pain.
Euljekjian’s health was further impacted by a hunger strike that he staged in 2023 in protest at being forced by the prison authorities to communicate with his Lebanese wife in Armenian, a language she does not understand.
The abuse – physical and psychological – that he has suffered has also resulted in a deterioration in Euljekjian’s mental health, according to his family.
Since March 2024, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has sponsored Euljekjian as part of the Libertas campaign for the release of the Armenian prisoners.
In March of this year, CSI held a side event at the United Nations Human Rights Council focusing on the Armenian hostages and featuring testimony from a panel of experts.