Ara Ghazaryan on the kidnapping of Armenian youths
“Everything starts with the right of free movement, with the installation of a guide, which violates that right. The agreement of November 9 is also violated. As a result, citizens’ right to free movement is violated. The other is depriving young people of the right to personal freedom. Depriving them of their freedom even for administrative responsibility cannot last for days,” international law specialist Ara Ghazaryan answered the question of “Aravot,” which international conventions Azerbaijan violates by kidnapping Armenian boys at the illegal checkpoint of Berdzor.
Let’s remember that according to the Information Headquarters of Artsakh, on August 28, “Azerbaijan kidnapped Alen Nelson Sargsyan, born in 2001, who was going to Armenia from Artsakh accompanied by Russian peacekeepers at the illegal checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor.” The Azerbaijani mass media write that the three youths, soccer players, who were arrested from the corridor of Lachin, allegedly disrespected the Azerbaijani flag. The Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan stated the kidnapping of three Armenian youths. It is noted that a search was announced for young people, and they were caught in the area of the illegal checkpoint in Lachin. They also note that “the young people came forward with a self-confessional testimony and regretted what they had done.” The announcement also states: “Taking into account the age of the accused and their sincere remorse, following the requirements of the criminal procedure legislation, applying the principle of humanity, the criminal prosecution against them was stopped.” At the end of the statement of the Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan, it is recorded that after ten days of detention, the young people will be “deported from the territory of Azerbaijan.”
According to Azerbaijani expert Tatevik Hayrapetyan, “young people will no longer be able to enter Artsakh, at least as long as we have this situation. And they keep them under arrest to create an atmosphere of fear and powerlessness.”
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Ara Ghazaryan compared this situation to the situation when someone who is under investigation is found at the airport, regardless of whether he is a citizen of the country or not, and he is arrested because, say, he has committed some crime in Armenia. “From a legal point of view, what happened can be compared with that situation? Another question is: Are the grounds correct or not? Is it a criminal offense or an administrative misdemeanor? The media reports that the young people will eventually be expelled from the country and that they committed an administrative violation.”
According to Ara Ghazaryan, it is only the appearance. “The content is that Azerbaijan is applying another new scheme to the residents of Artsakh, the purpose of which is racism and Armenian hatred. They achieved a military advantage over RA. The next step, as we mentioned in the International Criminal Court, is the implementation of genocide, which Azerbaijan is doing against the people of Artsakh.
To the question: What about the influence of the Russian peacekeepers? According to the agreement of November 9, they are in the Berdzor corridor to ensure free movement through the corridor. Still, this right of the citizens is being violated, Ara Ghazaryan answered. “The Russian Federation and Azerbaijan have divided the territorial spheres of their jurisdiction by mutual consent. It is a violation of the agreement of November 9 because, according to it, the Russian Federation will control the free movement through the Lachin Corridor. There should not have been a gate. In violation of that agreement, Azerbaijan installed a gate and exercised executive and legislative power there. Apparently, the two states have reached an agreement that the Russian Federation will not interfere with the exercise of executive power by Azerbaijan at that gate, which Azerbaijan installed.”
For example, on what grounds RA can apply to the international court with such precedents, Ara Ghazaryan answered: “Armenia can only combine the application that is already in progress, on the same basis: prevention and prohibition of war. RA has already applied on that basis; it can add new facts. It is the maximum we can do within the framework of legal processes, and we can also offer Azerbaijan to cooperate within the framework of the Minsk Convention in terms of these cases if any episode related to the territory of the Republic of Armenia is involved in the cases of these young people.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
“Aravot” daily newspaper, 30.08.2023
