Analysis: They are lying again

By Kamal Ali

Armenian newspaper Zhokhovurd has published a story about an Armenian shepherd that was held in Azerbaijani captivity for about a month before being handed over to his home country.

Kamo Chobanyan, a resident of the village of Verin Karmirakhbyur, told the newspaper that Arsen Khojoyan, 23, was subjected to physical and psychological torture while in captivity.  

“A typical Armenian lie that is not worth responding to,” I thought before reading a report by Armenian news portal epress.am that Arsen Khojoyan was in fact treated well by his Azerbaijani captors.  

Khojoyan was inspected at a medical center in the Armenian town of Razdan on 2 June. He was complaining about weakness, joint pain and a sleep disorder. He repeatedly denied Armenia media reports that he was injected poisonous petrol while in captivity, epress.am says. 

Tsakhik Vardanyan, an official at the Armenian Ministry of Health, told the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: “Nothing life-threatening was revealed during [Khojoyan’s] inspection. There was no sign that he was poisoned. After the inspection, we concluded that what Khojoyan is saying is true, and that he got no injection [while in Azerbaijani captivity].”

In other words, reports that Khojoyan’s was injected gasoline or other toxic substances prove to be wrong. Khojoyan himself denies the allegations, saying that prison warders even shared their meal with him to dispel his doubts about the quality of food.

According to Armenian doctors, had some kind of toxic substance been injected into Khojoyan’s body, his organs would have been affected long ago. 

Pain in Khojoyan’s joints could have been caused by angina, stress or nervous tension. Furthermore, doctors said he had developed psoriasis.

The overall weakness of the body could have been caused by the poor living conditions of his family. The large family - father, mother and seven children – are probably suffering from malnutrition. The man received treatment for sore throat and mental disorder. 

A reporter with Zhokhovurd tried to find out how Arsen Khojoyan made his living before ending up on the Azerbaijani side of the border on March 8. According to fellow villager Chobanyan, Arsen and his father are currently looking after cattle owned by residents of Sevan region.

"Arsene Khojoyan was captured when he was grazing cattle. He was lost in the pastureland. He was clearly subjected to both psychological and physical torture in Azerbaijan,” she wrote.

It seems that journalists with Zhokhovurd do not read epress.am at all. I think had they read the epress.am report, they would still have lied because Armenians are known for their lies about mythical torture. They are good at telling others how much they had to suffer. 

Bakudaily.az