No:090/21, Head of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva answers the question of the media about the detainee of Armenian origin Maralle Najarian

Answer: Born in Bourj Hammoud (Lebanon), Maralle Najarian has both Armenian and Lebanese citizenship. She was detained by Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies in the former conflict zone together with her partner, who is also a Lebanese citizen of Armenian origin.

She gave testimonies on her illegal entry into territory of Azerbaijan and other actions violating Azerbaijani legislation.  

As a result of humanism demonstrated by the Azerbaijani side, Najarian was released from custody on March 10, 2021.      

She personally preferred to be repatriated to Lebanon, not to Armenia. We would like to note that as a result of discussions with the Russian side, due to her Lebanese citizenship it was impossible to transfer her via Russian territory. For this reason, she was repatriated back to Lebanon via Turkey.     

In general, we would like to say that as of today there are no women of Armenian origin in Azerbaijani custody. All five women detained during the Patriotic War are released and most of them released even during military operations.