Last week, footage from the courtroom in Baku reignited public memory and sparked intense discussion about prisoners, detainees, and the hostage-taking of Artsakh’s leadership. Meanwhile, for over a year and a half, Armenian prisoners have been subjected to persecution under Azerbaijan’s so-called “justice” system. It is evident that the numerous fabricated charges against them are, in reality, a form of punishment for exercising the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to self-determination. This entire process is nothing more than a disgraceful attempt by Azerbaijan to mask its own crimes and conceal its genocidal actions. False accusations and a fabricated trial will remain a tool of pressure as long as the Armenian authorities continue to remain indifferent to Azerbaijan’s illegalities.
International practice provides well-established precedents: negotiations between conflicting parties always begin with the issue of prisoner release and proceed only after it is resolved. In our case, this principle seems to have been disregarded. It is therefore unsurprising that international organizations react with bewilderment to various private initiatives, subtly pointing to the inertia of Armenian state institutions in this matter.
The “We Are” civil initiative strongly condemns the judicial farce orchestrated by the Azerbaijani authorities against prisoners, detainees, and the military-political leadership of Artsakh. This so-called trial is, in fact, psychological terrorism against the Republic of Armenia, aimed at exerting additional pressure on the country and humiliating the Armenian people.
We stand in full support of all efforts dedicated to the release of Armenian prisoners and demand:
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- That the authorities of the Republic of Armenia take every possible and impossible measure to secure the swift release of our captured compatriots from the hellish prisons of Baku.
- That the OSCE, particularly the Minsk Group member states and especially its co-chairing countries, respect the results of their own years-long efforts in the Artsakh negotiation process and, in the context of individual and collective human rights, raise their voices against Azerbaijan’s blatant violations of international law.
The “We Are” civil initiative
