Thread by @ThePoliticsWand

⬇️THREAD

Parts from Maral Najarian's interview with Voice of Van's Houry Papazian.

Maral was repatriated to Beirut last night after 4 months of Azerbaijani captivity.

Voice of Van is a Lebanese-Armenian radio station.

The interview was held in Western Armenian.

1/14

ARF MP Hagop Pakradounian first talks with Maral, calling her a hero, "we are with you, and you represent us. You are not the regular Maral who moved to Artsakh, you are the hero Maral who came back from Artsakh," he adds. The Leb MFA has asked the MP to congratulate her.

2/14

Voice of Van reporter, Houry, asks Maral Najarian to give details about her return, calls her "our hero" after Maral thanks everyone involved, saying she did not expect the outcry.

3/14

"When, on Tuesday morning, they asked me to pack my bags to leave, through the crack of my [prison] door...

*Maral starts tearing up*

... you cannot imagine how happy I was... God, you gave me my freedom, thank you, God..."

- Maral Najarian

4/14

Maral continues crying.

"The door which never opened for me finally opened. I don't know how I left, but when I did, I looked back and said, dear God, to whoever is imprisoned here after me, don't let them be tortured like I was. Let them leave fast."

- Maral Najarian

5/14

"A soldier and an @ICRC rep, Angela from Kazakhstan, accompanied me to the airport, into the airplane with my Lebanese passport, and I flew to Istanbul. My layover in Istanbul was very long, 11 hours long."

- Maral Najarian

6/14

"At the [Istanbul] airport, I asked around for someone to give me their phone so I could contact my family. Nobody gave me a phone, I don't know how I was able to spend 11 hours in that airport. I would walk and sit around, incessantly."

- Maral Najarian

7/14

"Up until I got on the plane [to Beirut], I could not believe any of this was real. I kept thinking they're gonna come and kidnap me again."

- Maral Najarian

8/14

"When I landed in Lebanon, I started applauding by myself. I said, Maral, hamdella a'al salemeh ("praise God for your well-being", in Arabic), to myself. Maral, God returned you to your land, I told myself."

- Maral Najarian

9/14

"I was greeted by my kids at the airport. I couldn't stand up, I couldn't believe it. This was a miracle by God, I never had hope that I'd be able to leave that place. To all those who prayed for [my return], I hope they receive the best from God."

- Maral Najarian

10/14

"I know I'm not the healthiest right now [...] but I know I'm strong."

- Maral Najarian

11/14

"There were razor blades [in the prison cell], I thought of self-harm 3-4 times because I had no hope of leaving. But then I'd envision my boy and girl telling me not to do it, telling me they're waiting for me. So I flushed them down the toilet."

- Maral Najarian

12/14

"I saw [razor blades] in 3-4 toilets, I don't know whether they'd put them there on purpose, or they were left behind by former inmates. I thought of it, but then I decided against it, I will return to my kids, God loves me, I've survived a car accident before."

- Maral N

13/14

"I thought my mother would have died, I thought she wouldn't be able to handle this." - Maral N

" [...] you're not alone, Maral [...] the global Armenian nation is with you, Maral. Thank you." - Houry, the reporter from Voice of Van.

Maral thanks everyone.

14/14

The footage was taken from and belongs to Voice of Van - Վանայ Ձայն Facebook page, where the interview was broadcast live.

Link: facebook.com/voiceofvan/vid…