News - Edvard Asryan on Azerbaijan soldier’s return: Whether he is  saboteur is decided by Armenia Investigative Committee

That is not the duty of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Edvard Asryan, told this to reporters Tuesday morning at Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan—and addressing the question of how he evaluates the fact that Armenia has decided to return the Azerbaijani serviceman to Azerbaijan as a manifestation of goodwill. To the remark that perhaps that Azerbaijani soldier was a saboteur and was not lost, Asryan responded: "If you have been following closely, an investigation has been conducted in the relevant investigative bodies [of Armenia], and the question of whether he is a saboteur or not is determined as a result of the functions performed at the Investigative Committee [of Armenia]." And to the question whether this Azerbaijani soldier is being returned to Azerbaijan in exchange for something, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia responded: "That is not the function of the Chief of the General Staff." The Investigative Committee of Armenia announced that the public criminal prosecution against Azerbaijani serviceman Ruslan Penakhov was terminated. He had crossed into Armenia from the border nearby Tegh village of Armenia’s Syunik Province on February 28.