Demonstrations in Yerevan Call for Release of Armenians held in Azerbaijan

Vardanyan began his second hunger strike on February 18 in protest against his trial and arrest by Azerbaijan, following which his lawyer, Jared Genser, made a statement regarding his deteriorating health since going on strike. Genser said that the Azerbaijani military court refused their five motions to postpone the trial and ‘insisted [Vardanyan] attend, despite his being on the verge of passing out’.

Yerevan Joins the Fray

Armenian officials have only recently begun publicly condemning the trial of former Nagorno-Karabakh officials and other representatives of the region which was launched in January.

On Friday, February 28, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry stated that it “continues to draw the attention of the international community” to the issue of the release of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan. They also stated that the Azerbaijani authorities “are using this judicial spectacle as a tool for political pressure on” Armenia.

In response, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry “resolutely” condemned and rejected Armenia’s statement. It said that the Armenians on trial “either have been charged or convicted with war crimes, ethnic cleansing, military aggression, torture, and other serious offences” and that Azerbaijan was obligated to “investigate and prosecute these offences under the Geneva Conventions and generally under international and domestic law.”

Last week, during an official visit to Geneva, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan criticized Azerbaijan’s detention and trials against Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians — including former officials — marking the first time Armenia broached the matter at an international level.

On Saturday, March 1, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that his government made “possible diplomatic efforts” towards the release of the Armenian prisoners and that they continue to “bring up this issue in discussions with Azerbaijan.” He also noted that “efforts are being made that are not immediately visible and have yet to yield results.”

Pashinyan claimed that initially they “refrained from making certain statements” in regard to the trial “to avoid provoking torture and the use of prohibited methods.”

“Why are we making a statement now? Because we see that we can no longer provoke anything further — it has already happened,” Pashinyan said.

In late January, Pashinyan expressed concern that the trial was “not only seriously worrying, but will be, and is being used to provoke new escalations in the region.”

On February 27, Andranik Kocharyan, an MP and chair of the parliamentary Defense and Security Committee, stated that the former political and military leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh “did not have the right” to be captured by Azerbaijan, adding that their detention by Azerbaijan was a threat to Armenia.

(This article originally appeared on the website www.oc-media.org on March 3.)