Former RA Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan wrote on his Facebook page:
Azerbaijan’s objectives with the abducting and unlawful imprisonment of Artsakh leaders, military and state figures:
1) To legitimize its false political theses by making false accusations of terrorism, financing of terrorism, money laundering, illegal armed groups, murders, and other baseless allegations;
2) To legitimize its genocidal policy, hatred and enmity, and to create “legitimate” grounds to advance same;
3) To disassociate and shed itself from up the crimes it has committed: murders, tortures, kidnappings, and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, etc…;
4) To bolster the creation of an already underway artificial grounds for military aggression against Armenia and new crimes (for example: testimony obtained through torture and false and farcical criminal proceedings, etc.);
5) To continue attempting to break the spirit of the Armenian people, by insulting national dignity, and keeping the Armenian society in tension, causing people mental suffering;
The release of all of the detainee prisoners abducted and held hostage in Baku is a priority for all of us, regardless of any personal feelings towards any of them:
Former Artsakh presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Speaker of the Parliament Davit Ishkhanyan, former Minister of State Ruben Vardanyan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Babayan, high-ranking military officers, Levon Mnatsakanyan and Davit Manukyan, as well as Armenian soldiers and civilians captured at different times.
