During ongoing proceedings at the Baku Military Court on July 3, persons who were captured and taken hostage in Azerbaijan's formerly Armenian-occupied territories by Armenian armed forces testified.

Axar.az reports the victim, Elnur Mehdiyev, stated in his testimony that on February 1, 2000, he was captured by Armenian soldiers after getting lost while serving in a battalion located in the Goranboy region.

He said that he was taken to a bunker of the Armenian armed forces, brutally beaten with fists and feet, as well as with the butt of an automatic weapon, then tied with a rope to a pole in front of the bunker and kept barefoot on the snow from night until morning. As a result, his feet were severely frostbitten. The next day, on February 2, he was hospitalized in the city of Khojaly, where all the toes on his left foot were amputated. Later, he was transferred to a medical facility in the city of Khankendi and held there for some time. On July 11, he was moved to Armenia and held in a pretrial detention center.

The victim stated that during his captivity, he was routinely beaten and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. A week later, he was released from captivity and handed over to Azerbaijan.

While responding to prosecutors, he noted that he did not resist after being taken hostage and that he was tortured solely because he was Azerbaijani.

The court proceedings continue against Armenian nationals accused of crimes including war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, aggression, terrorism, and violations of the laws of war. The charges also include financing terrorism, the violent seizure and retention of power, and other serious offenses.