Is the Czech citizen detained on Armenia-Azerbaijan conditional border really a "climber"? Investigation by Caliber.Az

As Caliber.Az reported earlier, on 3 February a Czech citizen was detained on the conditional border with Armenia while trying to enter the territory of Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy that he managed to pass through the minefield on the conditional border unharmed. Even at that time, there were suspicions that the detainee might be a representative of a Western intelligence service with the intention of infiltrating Azerbaijani territory for the purpose of espionage. All the more so as an EU intelligence observation mission is already working on the Armenian side of the border, spying on the countries of the region.

On 5 February, the Czech foreign ministry confirmed the arrest of its citizen and said that representatives of the Czech embassy in Baku would meet with him.

Meanwhile, informed sources told Caliber.Az that the Czech citizen D.B. (for obvious reasons we will not disclose his name yet) was arrested in the direction of Lachin district. During the preliminary investigation, it was found out that D.B. is a well-built middle-aged man, speaks Russian and introduced himself as a mountaineer. He said that he had come from the direction of the village of Garakilse (Sisian) and had lost his way in the terrain.

However, the distance from where the Czech citizen was detained to the village of Garakilse is 13-15 kilometres. In addition, there are several positions of the Armenian armed forces in that direction, and there are minefields between the positions in both directions.

According to D.B., he is 37 years old, single and into mountaineering. He said he had travelled to Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Italy, France and Colombia. He arrived in Yerevan by plane and travelled to the Gafan region two days later. Then, he says, he decided to return to the Armenian capital. But for some reason, instead of using a car or other means of transport, D.B. decided to walk to Garakilse, dozens of kilometres away. And soon he found himself... in the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

A soldier on combat duty spotted him and reported him to a senior officer at the position. After being discovered, D.B. raised his hands and approached our position. The Azerbaijani soldiers checked his clothes and the contents of his rucksack, in which they found two passports, a mobile phone, a charger, a clipboard, a climbing rope, sunglasses, medical glasses and, of course... a professional camera.

There are several inconsistencies in D.B.'s version of events that raise additional questions. Firstly, before travelling to a new country, and even more so to areas in the border region, it is logical to at least familiarise oneself with the situation and border security issues in advance. Especially since many European embassies in Armenia have repeatedly issued instructions on the undesirability of visiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Isn't it strange that D.B. found himself in the border area as soon as he arrived?

Secondly, how did the "mountaineer" get through so many Armenian checkpoints unnoticed? True, it is possible to pass through one or two checkpoints unnoticed. But is it possible to pass through several at the same time without any special preparation? Let's assume for a moment that the Armenian checkpoint guards "missed" the Czech, taking into account the decay factor of the Armenian army. But how did he manage to cross the minefields unharmed? The very fields that even shepherds living in those parts of the country are afraid to approach.

Thirdly, even if we assume that D.B.'s mobile or satellite phone batteries were dead, did this "experienced mountaineer" not have a compass with him? Or was he unable to navigate the mountainous terrain? Not the strongest excuse for someone who has been "mountaineering" for many years and has visited more than one country.

And one more point that casts doubt on D.B.'s version of "mountaineering". He visited the Gafan district. The very district where one of the offices of the EU's intelligence and monitoring mission has been operating since August last year...