YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — Armenian prisoners sentenced in Azerbaijan plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) without exhausting all domestic legal remedies in Azerbaijan, lawyer Siranush Sahakyan said on Tuesday, February 17, arguing that local courts do not offer effective avenues for justice.
Her remarks came after Azerbaijani authorities sentenced former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison. Legal experts have repeatedly described the fate of former Artsakh political and military leaders held in Baku as a matter ultimately dependent on political decisions.
Sahakyan, who represents Armenian prisoners of war and detainees before the European Court of Human Rights, said the issue, while primarily political, also has legal dimensions because “legal processes were misused for political purposes.”
“In formal terms, they can apply to higher courts in Azerbaijan, but these are not effective mechanisms for achieving justice,” Sahakyan told Panorama.am in an interview. She said Azerbaijan recognizes the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg-based court and that violations of the right to a fair trial could be effectively raised before it.
Sahakyan noted that Azerbaijani political prisoners, activists and journalists who have faced repression have previously secured redress through the ECHR. While United Nations mechanisms are also available, she says they exert mainly political and moral pressure, whereas ECHR judgments are legally binding.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights, applicants are generally required to exhaust effective domestic remedies before applying to the court. However, Sahakyan argued that if remedies exist only in theory and cannot function effectively in practice, applicants may be exempt from that requirement.
