The health of 56-year-old Lyudvig Mkrtchyan, who has been held captive in Azerbaijan since October 2020, continues to cause serious concern for his lawyers and family.
On July 15, Luciana Minasian, an attorney and head of the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR), raised the alarm that Armenian prisoner of war Lyudvig Mkrtchyan, who was captured five and a half years ago and subsequently imprisoned in Baku, was facing serious health problems and fighting for his life.
“The leukocyte count of 56-year-old Mkrtchyan is 14.27, almost twice the normal level, and is accompanied by extensive inflammation. He also has severe heart damage: left ventricular hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, and aortic insufficiency,” the lawyer wrote on the social media platform X.
Lyudvig Mkrtchyan’s wife, Hranush Shahbazyan, is enduring days of uncertainty together with the rest of the family and their relatives. She says she has received no information about her husband for a month and does not know what condition he is in.
“I last spoke with Lyudvig on the 19th of last month. That was our most recent conversation. I do not know when he will call, what condition he is in, or what is happening there. During our conversation, he said that he had been very unwell and that his condition had deteriorated so severely that he lost consciousness. They took him for a heart examination, but they did not give him any results, so he does not know what the problem is. To this day, I have received no further news from him,” Hranush Shahbazyan told 168.am.
She said that Lyudvig Mkrtchyan had not suffered from any health problems before his capture and that his health issues had developed while he was in captivity.
“My husband probably developed these health problems during the past year or over the last several months, because he was constantly complaining about his health, and his condition gradually became worse,” she added.
According to Hranush Shahbazyan, over the years the family has appealed to various embassies and international organizations but has received no response from any of them.
“Honestly, I no longer know what to expect, because the situation is so uncertain. I know only one thing: all political considerations must be set aside, and people’s lives must be saved, rather than allowing them to remain in captivity because of political considerations.
“Honestly, I do not know what is happening in Azerbaijan or what its intentions are. I know only one thing: if they are moving toward a ‘peace agreement,’ priority should have been given to addressing the humanitarian dimension, because these people should have come first. Instead, we are waiting to see what Azerbaijan decides and repeatedly deferring to Azerbaijan’s decisions.”
The 56-year-old Lyudvig Mkrtchyan has now been held in Azerbaijani captivity for nearly six years. He was captured in Hadrut on October 20, 2020.
As it has done with other Armenian captives, Azerbaijan brought fabricated charges against Lyudvig Mkrtchyan, alleging that he had “committed acts of torture” during the first Artsakh war.
Hranush Shahbazyan describes the accusation as unfounded and absurd.
“Honestly, I do not know according to what criteria the Azerbaijani side returns our captives or whom it gives priority to, because my husband has been in captivity since 2020. Lyudvig should have been home long ago, rather than remaining there under those conditions,” she stressed.
Zvart Khachatryan/168.am