2024-08-02 02:42:51
On the afternoon of September 19, Gayane Gabrielyan was taking a coffee break at the suggestion of her neighbor, when the war started, and everyone got mixed up in Sarnaghbyur village of Askeran region. Before that, they already knew about the accumulation of enemy weapons and troops in the border settlement.
Gayane tells MediaHub that he and Gohar ran first and went to the community hall to find out from the village head what to do.
“The village, big and small, gathered in the area not far from the residential houses, sat in the open air. We thought that nothing would be done to us as civilians. However, the Azerbaijanis shot at us several times with airstrikes,” says Gayane.
According to him, a few hours later, some of the injured Sarnaghbyur residents were moved to Askeran regional center, and from there to Stepanakert.
“If the ambulance had come sooner, it would have been possible to save their lives because many died of suffocation,” he says.
Recalling the events of September 19, Gayane Gabrielyan finds it difficult to tell without tears. He and 3 other fellow villagers were captured and tortured in Aghdam and then in Shushi.
“I tried to go with the wounded by car, but since there was no room, I had to stay in the village. My husband, Apres, was in Stepanakert, so I could not do anything else in that situation. There were 5 of us left. I, Lianna, a boy with mental health problems, grandmother Gemma, and her disabled son Liparit were injured, the situation was so serious that we thought he was already dead, we left them with the dead citizens. Then it turned out that Liparit is alive. All of us were injured, 4 of us helped each other because we could not walk. The nearest to us was the village chief’s house. We came and sheltered there until help came after us. And during that time they were constantly shooting. 2 wounded servicemen approached us, they said that they are from Hadrut, they live in Stepanakert, I said that there is a car, drive us out of this hell. One of the guys sat at the wheel to “push” the “Ural” to take us with them, but the car had a problem, it didn’t work. The soldiers asked the location of the base of the Russian peacekeepers, the sick boy was escorted there to let the Russians know that we are in the village, in a wounded state,” recalls Gayane Gabrielyan.
According to our interlocutor, they stayed at the community leader’s house for several hours waiting for help, but instead of help, Azerbaijanis came to visit them the next day. “I said to Lianna: ‘please, come out, see if anyone is seen, tell them that we are here, come and take us out, my situation was terrible.’ Lianna came out and came in terrified, holding her head, and said, “The Azerbaijanis are already here.” They were shouting loudly and as far as I understood, they wanted water. When I pulled the curtain and looked outside, I don’t know how I fell to the ground. They entered, we were all scared. it was an indescribably stressful situation, I couldn’t breathe. They entered, they said in Russian: “get up”, I said: “I’m injured, I can’t, please don’t kill us, we didn’t do anything, we’re ordinary citizens.” They say again: “get up, we won’t do anything”, I asked them to help. They made me sit on the bed, they questioned me as to whose house had money, gold and Armenian cognac. Then, they didn’t miss the moment, taking advantage of our helpless situation, they hit.”
According to Gayane, the people of Adbejan started “looting” from the same moment. Brandy was found in the house of the head of the community, a lot of money was taken from the house of one of the fellow villagers, and gold was taken from the house of another. At the time of hastily leaving the village, many did not manage to take anything.
“They took us, or rather, tortured us to their positions. They tied us by the hands, contrary to our shouts and urges, they dragged us about 5-6 kilometers to their base. There they took my bag from my hand, took 3 pieces of gold, 500 thousand drams in front of my eyes, and then checked my documents. When they saw my party membership card, they said, “You are a sniper.” I explained what kind of document it was, they didn’t believe me, that’s why they persecuted me,” he recalls.
Anyway, in the evening Gayane is transferred to Akna (Aghdam) with Lianna, Jema and Liparit. There they met 2 more people captured from Martakert region, named Lernik and Marine.
“It was seen that the hyenas were well persecuted and beaten. Lianna and I communicated in Russian. They said, help us find out their identity. Lernik and Marine were not husband and wife. They told that they were engaged in animal husbandry on the farm of a man named Hovik, just workers. The Azerbaijanis did not believe, and Lernik was continuously beaten,” says the eyewitness.
Then they gathered everyone together, gave them food, asked who needed medical intervention. “The doctor came, bandaged our wounds, and did not miss the moment, hit me twice on the head. I said: “Why are you hitting? Do you not see our situation? What have we done to you?”, he said: “Помнишь Agdam?” I said that I was young at that time and I don’t remember the incidents, they were beating me. The Armenian prisoners were allocated separate places.”
According to our interlocutor, they were treated as if they had arrested terrorists. “When they took me to my cell, the door of Liparit’s cell was open, that’s how they beat that poor boy, he was already disabled, he had difficulty walking, and he was injured. They were beating me, my heart was pounding, but I couldn’t do anything,” he remembers the nightmare.
The next day, the Azerbaijani show begins. Gayane Gabrielyan says that before the TV channels came to film, they put on new clothes, forced them to appear in front of the camera, “you will all smile and say that they treated you well”.
“When the filming started, they gave us hot tea. They bandaged our wounds, and we had to say, “They are treating us well.”
During the several days of their stay in Akna, the Armenian prisoners received various Azerbaijani media every day. Gayane says that she will never forget the tortures and the mockery that she was forced to swallow every day.
“Even the policewomen were laughing at our situation. Before the shooting, Lianna was given a hairdo that made her laugh, her hair was gathered on her forehead.
On September 24, one of the Azerbaijani officers told him that they will not keep them, they will take them to Shush, and from there they will hand them over to the Armenian rescuers. The next day, 6 captured civilians were transferred to Shushi. “No one should speak a word on the road.”
On the way, the car stopped at several Azerbaijani bases.
“We didn’t say anything, they got into the car again, took pictures with their phones, laughed at us. In Shushi’s cell, we met civilians captured from Sznek and Khachmach, including elderly women, who also had obvious traces of violence. The Azerbaijani officer said: “We can kill and bury you here, but we don’t.” It would be a salvation for us, rather than the oppressions that we were subjected to during the 5 days of captivity. We waited until the rescuers came to Shushi’s entrances and transferred us to the Armenian side.”
During those nightmarish days, a video appeared on Azerbaijani telegram channels showing how Azerbaijanis show “generosity” towards Armenian prisoners. Gayane’s husband, the relatives of the other captured citizens turned to the Red Cross Mission, Russian peacekeepers, and searched everywhere for their return.
On the evening of September 25, Gayane’s relatives took him to the hospital, but… “Hundreds of patients were in the hospital that day as a result of the explosion of the fuel warehouse, no one gave me medical assistance. It was clear, they were in a worse situation. The next day, the doctors took me to Yerevan by helicopter. I had an operation here, thank God, I’m fine now,” Gayane adds.