CANBERRA: The Hon. Michael Sukkar MP – Federal Member for Deakin has written to Azerbaijan’s Chargé d’Affaires, Mr Vagif Jafarov, calling for the immediate release of Armenian political prisoner and former President of the Republic of Artsakh, Bako Sahakyan, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
In his letter, Sukkar advised the embassy of his intention to act as a sponsor for Mr Sahakyan and urged the Embassy to provide monthly updates on Mr Sahakyans’s physical and mental well-being.
Sukkar, who is one of the over 100 Australian Friends of Artsakh is now the second Australian elected official to sponsor an Armenian hostage illegally imprisoned by Azerbaijani authorities, since Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population living in the Republic of Artsakh in September 2023.
In his letter to Mr Jafarov, Sukkar said: “My decision to sponsor Mr Sahakyan comes in the wake of reports from the lawyers of Armenian political prisoners, in particular Jared Genser who wrote to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture detailing harrowing cases of inhumane treatment.”
Michael Kolokossian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, expressed the community’s deep gratitude to the Hon. Michael Sukkar MP for his commitment to act as a political sponsor for Mr Bako Sahakyan, underscoring the importance of such advocacy in the fight for justice.
Read also
Armenian National Committee of Australia
