Opinion from Baku: 'Defending Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan is infringement on rights of thousands of martyrs'

Azerbaijan’s opinion on Vardanyan trial

Member of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis, Zahid Oruc, commenting on the protests in Armenia against the arrest of Armenian separatists in Azerbaijan and the appeal of the former prime minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Ruben Vardanyan, stated that “the goal of those defending the Armenian prisoners is to distract attention from the main issue: their crimes against the Azerbaijani people.”

Context

Ruben Vardanyan, former prime minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), and other former officials were arrested following Azerbaijan’s military operation in September 2023. They are all accused of serious crimes: genocide, terrorism, attempting a coup, and organizing the forced relocation of peaceful Azerbaijani citizens. They face life imprisonment.

Vardanyan has been on hunger strike for 23 days, protesting what he perceives as “gross violations of the law” by Azerbaijani authorities. In early March, he addressed his family in a letter, condemning the trial as a “show.”

“The hunger strike is a protest against the essence and course of this trial. I knew what I would face and was ready for the worst conditions. I am still ready. I am not a victim and do not want to appear pitiful, because all this was a conscious decision. My demands remain unchanged. If you want to judge me, judge me professionally, openly, according to Azerbaijani laws and legal procedures,” Vardanyan said.

He also wrote that seven other former leaders of the “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” who are under arrest in Azerbaijan and facing a separate trial, agree with him.

On March 11, Armenian churches in several countries called for the unconditional return of all prisoners of war and other detained civilians in Azerbaijan. They state that their call is “not only for the release of innocent people, but also for the restoration of justice, dignity, and humanity.”

The signatories of the statement assert that people detained during the conflict “have endured unimaginable suffering, and their continued detention is a violation of all principles of human dignity and Christian mercy.”

“Заявления о несправедливости судебного процесса – это только попытка отработать полученную плату”

Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis, Zahid Oruc, in an Interview with JAMnews:

“A whole campaign has been organized around those accused of occupation, aggression, and numerous crimes committed over more than 30 years in Azerbaijan. The reason is that the organizers have lost their tool of pressure on Azerbaijan – through Karabakh. They used this important weapon for many years, and now it has slipped from their hands.

The accusations now being made against Azerbaijan are nothing but lobbying activities. These are contracts signed in certain offices. The goal of these statements and protests is not solidarity or support for people whose rights are allegedly violated. The goal is to justify the funds received for the campaign to discredit Azerbaijan.”

It is clear that some forces, constantly raising the issue of the changing geopolitical situation in the region, want to force Azerbaijan to conclude peace on their terms and disrupt the strategies proposed by Ilham Aliyev.

The Social Research Center, which I lead, has for nearly five years identified those involved in lobbying groups working against Azerbaijan, what resources they operate with, where their theses come from, and what their objectives are. This list includes officials from the U.S. Congress to the European Parliament.

• Why is Ruben Vardanyan still a “Moscow project”? Analysis from Baku
• ‘Freedom for Ruben Vardanyan and others’: protests in Armenia
• ‘Ter-Petrosyan, Kocharyan, and Sargsyan must also face justice’: View from Baku

“In Armenia, they know: investigation will prove that separatists were led from Yerevan”

“Unlike Araik Arutyunyan and Bako Saakyan, Ruben Vardanyan did not give direct orders to military formations and is accused under different charges. He did not physically participate in the killing of Azerbaijanis, like former Armenian presidents Kocharian and Sargsyan. Therefore, the charges against him are significantly different.

The arrests of former NKR leaders began in September 2023, but Nikol Pashinyan’s government paid little attention to this issue in its agenda. Only in the last month have the Armenian authorities started to actively discuss this topic.

The reason is that now the accused are facing the people whose lives they destroyed, whose relatives they killed. And it becomes clear that the events in Karabakh and around it could not have occurred without Armenia’s involvement.

In Yerevan, they understand that the investigation will prove this. The trial will reveal the crimes of the Armenian state. Therefore, they want these trials to end as quickly as possible.”

“Are Vardanyan and others ready to call on their illegal armed groups to stop crimes?”

“If those people in different countries who are now accusing Azerbaijan and defending the separatists, the international prosecutors, truly decided to take a position of justice, they could be invited to participate in these trials. Evidence could be presented to them showing how the accused committed their crimes.

If the International Criminal Court had issued even one percent of the verdicts regarding Karabakh that it has for events in Ukraine, these international prosecutors would certainly have been invited to work with Azerbaijani prosecutors in the courts.

Let’s recall the recent apology from Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, from his Turkish prison to the Turkish people for crimes committed over many years. Öcalan called on his followers to lay down their arms and engage in only peaceful struggle.

Are former leaders of the NKR Araik Arutyunyan, Bako Saakyan, Ruben Vardanyan, and others, like Abdullah Öcalan, ready to tell their terrorist formations and illegal armed groups: ‘Stop your crimes’?”

“In Armenia, they want crimes to temain unsolved”

“The politicization of the trials of the accused is understandable. There can be no other position from those who have kept Azerbaijani lands under occupation for many years.

They speak of massive violations of the rights of the arrested when minor legal temporary issues occur, such as the cancellation of a meeting with a lawyer or a delayed court hearing.

Why do they say nothing about the rights of those who were forced to leave their homes for years, lost all their property, and, upon returning, no longer recognize their native places, as everything there has been demolished or rebuilt?

Those defending Armenian separatists do not consider the protection of rights as a standard for all and are, in fact, trampling on the rights of thousands of Azerbaijani martyrs. They are merely using this opportunity to label Armenians as political prisoners and demand their release.

Those putting pressure on us want to distract our attention from the main issue, exploiting our time and energy with such minor matters. They want these crimes to remain hidden and unnoticed. If these individuals did not commit the crimes they are accused of, let them prove it.”

Background

● In the autumn of 2020, a 44-day second Karabakh war took place between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia. As a result, Azerbaijan regained control over part of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

● On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan conducted a localized military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

● On September 28, the “president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” Samvel Shahramanyan, signed a decree to dissolve the “republic.”

● On October 15, 2023, President Ilham Aliyev, in his speech in Khankendi, declared the full restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty, the resolution of the Karabakh issue, and the end of the conflict.

● Currently, 14 individuals are under arrest in Azerbaijan, including former presidents of the unrecognized “NKR” Arkady Ghoukasyan, Bako Saakyan, Araik Arutyunyan, former “foreign minister” David Babayan, “speaker of parliament” David Ishkhanyan, and generals Leva Mnatsakanyan and David Manukyan. Trials are ongoing in Baku.

● A peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia has not yet been signed, and negotiations are ongoing.