Ombudsman: Trial of Armenian PoWs in Baku violates international lawJune 4, 2021 - 11:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Any kind of prosecution or trial of prisoners of war is a gross violation of international law, Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan said on Thursday, June 3. Tatoyan's comments came a day after a sham trial of two Armenian PoWs, Lyudvik Mkrtchyan and Alyosha Khosrovyan, illegally being held in Azerbaijan, kicked off in a court in Baku, with state prosecutors charging them for allegedly torturing “Azerbaijani captives” during the Karabakh War in the 1990s. The Ombudsman said the trial is a gross violation of the rights of Mkrtchyan and Khosrovyan who were captured during the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh (Karabakh) in 2020. Tatoyan also weighed in on a statement from Azerbaijan’s State Security Service and the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office, which claimed preliminary investigation of the criminal case against a total of 14 Armenian PoWs “who committed sabotage, terrorism and other crimes against Azerbaijani servicemen and civilians in the north-western region of Hadrut has been completed and sent to court.” "First, all the soldiers and civilians of the Armenian side being illegally held in Azerbaijan are captives: they were captured during an armed conflict, and that conflict is not over," Tatoyan said. "Moreover, the Azeri authorities are prosecuting the Armenian side's captives on the basis of their "testimonies". It is obvious that they are being kept illegally in Azerbaijan." The Human Rights Defender noted that Mkrtchyan and Khosrovyan were being humiliated kept during the trial, having been placed in a glass cage, isolated from the rest. According to him, such attitude and behavior were meant to cause additional mental suffering to the families of the captives and stir up tension among the Armenian society. Top stories President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Partner news | Macron honors Charles Aznavour on 100th anniversary French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the memory of French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour. Erdogan’s approval rating falls below 40 percent: survey A total of 53.4 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the performance of Erdoğan. Blinken says U.S. reviewing a number of aid requests from Armenia He said the U.S. is reviewing the requests to determine what more it can do to increase its assistance to Armenia. Protest leader vows to achieve departure of Armenian authorities According to Archbishop Bagrat, there is only one solution to the situation in Armenia. |