BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 7. Armenian separatist, field commander Vitaly Balasanyan, repeatedly subjecting Azerbaijani soldier Natig Gasimov to severe torture in front of Armenian soldiers, killed him, the State Commission of Azerbaijan on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons told Trend.
The commission noted that since 1988, Balasanyan had actively participated in inciting separatism and organizing terrorist acts in the territory of the former "Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous" Region of Azerbaijan, conducting ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis, and committing the Khojaly genocide, as well as numerous war crimes.
Subsequently, he was the so-called "deputy minister of defense" and "head of the security council" of the separatist regime established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia.
The Armenian side, contrary to humanitarian law norms, conceals information about the burial place of Azerbaijani citizens, including Natig Gasimov who went missing during the first Karabakh war, the commission added.
Recently, Armenian war criminal Vagif Khachatryan suspected of committing genocide in Meshali village of Azerbaijan's Khojaly district during the first Karabakh war, a number of former so-called "officials" of the separatist regime, including "state minister" Ruben Vardanyan, "foreign minister" Davit Babayan, "presidents" Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan and others have been detained and arrested in Azerbaijan.
