The family of Armenian-Lebanese captive Vicken Euljekjian, held in Azerbaijan, has said that since early August, when he began a hunger strike, they have received no news from him.
This was reported by Argentina-based international lawyer Luciana Minassian, according to Pastinfo.
“The family expects that in the coming days Vigen will call and it will be possible to obtain some information from him,” Minassian said.
According to the lawyer, they have sent a letter to the Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner, asking for a visit to Euljekjian, who has been on hunger strike for more than a month. However, they have not received any response and there is no media report about such a visit by the ombudsman.
On September 3, Euljekjian’s family announced that they had received an unexpected phone call from Vigen, during which the Armenian captive told them that he had already been on hunger strike for 20 days. Since then, the family has had no further information from him.
The 46-year-old Euljekjian is a citizen of both Armenia and Lebanon. He was abducted by Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10, 2020, one day after the ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended the 44-day war in Artsakh. He is one of six civilian hostages held by Azerbaijan.
This is at least Euljekjian’s third hunger strike in recent years. In 2023, he staged a 24-day hunger strike after his captors refused to let him speak Arabic with his wife, insisting instead that he use Armenian—a language she does not understand. In May of this year, he launched a two-week hunger strike after being completely barred from calling his wife. He was later permitted to make one call per month. His June call reportedly became possible through the intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
