Day: November 7, 2023

An Azerbaijani court on Tuesday sentenced Vagif Khachatryan to serve a 15-year prison term after holding a sham trial for several weeks in Baku.

The 68-year-old Khachatryan was abducted by Azerbaijan border guards at the illegal checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor while being transported by the International Committee of the Red Cross to Armenia for medical treatment. He was subsequently transported to Baku where he was remanded into pretrial custody facing charges of allegedly committing genocide against Azerbaijanis during the 1990’s Karabakh Liberation war.

During Tuesday’s court session, Khachatryan again pleaded not guilty to charges, saying he had no role in the events for which he was being charged.

Azerbaijan’s prosecutor charged Khachatryan for allegedly taking part in combat operations that had “59 victims.”

During the course of the sham trial prosecutors put “witnesses” on the stand who said they “recognized” Khachatryan and provided lengthy testimony about his alleged “crimes.”

“Vagif Khachatryan’s lawyer Radmila Abilova made a defense speech in the court session presided over by Zeynal Agayev, chairman of the Baku Military Court. In her speech, the lawyer asked for the acquittal of Vagif Khachatryan. Then Vagif Khachatryan was given the last word. He said he does not consider himself guilty and asked for the acquittal,” Azerbaijani media reported.

Throughout the trial, Khachatryan was identified as being a citizen of Armenia.

Armenia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said the trial went against all international norms.

”Despite clear rejection of any false accusation, the 68-year-old resident of Nagorno-Karabakh was ‘sentenced’ to 15-year prison term after after a month of mock ‘trail’/show in Baku,” Badalyan said in a social media post on Tuesday.

Anahit Manasyan, Armenia’s Human Rights Defender called Khachatryan’s “trial” absurd and urged international human rights organizations to immediately take action.

”Vagif Khachatryan, abducted by Azerbaijani forces in the Lachin corridor, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Baku, without observing the international legal standards and guarantees related to human rights,” Minasyan said in a social media post.

“International Human Rights organizations should respond immediately,” she added.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Ten days after joining multilateral peace talks initiated by Ukraine and condemned by Russia, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council announced on Tuesday that he will not attend Wednesday’s meeting of his Russian and other ex-Soviet counterparts.

A spokeswoman for Armen Grigoryan gave no reason for the decision to skip the Commonwealth of Independent States meeting in Moscow when she communicated it to the official Armenpress news agency. RFE/RL’s Armenian Service could not contact her for further comment in the following hours.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan similarly declined to attend a CIS summit in Kyrgyzstan held on October 13. The effective boycott highlighted his government’s mounting tensions with Moscow.

Grigoryan added to those tensions when he joined security officials from more than 60 countries who gathered in Malta late last month to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s plan to end the war with Russia. He also met with Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, during what Moscow condemned as a “blatantly anti-Russian event.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry called Grigoryan’s trip to Malta a “demonstrative anti-Russian gesture of official Yerevan” and accused Pashinyan’s administration of systematically “destroying” Russian-Armenian relations.

Earlier this year, Yerevan also refused to participate in military exercises held by the Collective Security Treaty Organization and shunned a meeting of the defense ministers of ex-Soviet states making up the Russian-led alliance.

Pashinian has repeatedly accused the CSTO and Russia of not honoring their security commitments to Armenia. But he has so far stopped short of pulling his country out of the alliance or demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Will Grant ‘Honorary Citizenship’ to Artsakh Residents

Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, blasted Azerbaijan for “arbitrarily arresting” Artsakh officials soon after more than 100,000 Artsakh residents were forcibly displaced from their homes last month.

“The tragedy continues in Armenia. Azerbaijan is guilty of arbitrarily arresting the former officials of Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] and destroying the Armenian heritage in this territory,” Hidalgo said in a post on X, which detailed her meeting with human rights advocate Luis Moreno Ocampo, who in a report this summer said Azerbaijan was actively committing genocide of Armenians.

“Yesterday I had the opportunity to discuss it with Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the author of the report on the process of genocide carried out by Azerbaijan during the blockade of Lachin corridor,” added Hidalgo.

Ocampo will received the “Champion of International Justice” award during the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region’s annual awards banquet on Sunday.

“Our thoughts are with the casualties, their families, 100 thousand [Armenian] refugees and political prisoners held by Azerbaijan,” she said.

“On December 10, on the occasion of international Human Rights Day, I will hand honorary citizenship of Paris to the representatives of Artsakh Armenians,” Hidalgo announced. “Also, Paris calls for the immediate release of all Armenian captives being held by Azerbaijan.”

Armenian parliament member Arman Yeghoyan said that the European Region Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (OIF) has adopted a resolution expressing unconditional support to Armenia and particularly the Armenians of Artsakh, Armenpress reported.

Yeghoyan, who is representing Armenia at the assembly, said in a statement on Tuesday that the resolution stresses the need for respect of the rights of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and strongly condemns all forms of ethnic cleansing and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage in Artsakh.

Preserving Armenian cultural property in Artsakh was also on the agenda of the general assembly of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property currently underway in Rome.

Armenia was represented at the session by Harutyun Vanyan, Director of the Department of Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments at Armenia’s Education Ministry, and diplomats from the Armenian Embassy in Italy, the ministry said in a statement. Ambassador of Armenia to Italy Tsovinar Hambardzumyan attended the opening session.

Vanyan delivered a report on the issues of preservation of the historical-cultural monuments in Artsakh. He stressed that saving Armenian historical-cultural heritage in Artsakh will only be possible through the pressure and levers by reputable international organizations. Vanyan noted that unfortunately the Armenian heritage in Nakhichevan was not protected in the past during a similar situation.

Specific facts and numbers on vandalisms and destruction of monuments by Azerbaijan were presented at the session. The report also noted the resolutions and decisions adopted by reputable international organizations, which Azerbaijan has been disregarding.

An agreement was reached to cooperate as part of the ICCROM First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR) project, given the number of at-risk monuments in Armenia.

Azerbaijan Schedules Military Parade in Stepanakert Tomorrow

Azerbaijan demanded what it called eight “occupied” villages from Armenia, issuing an ultimatum to Yerevan and accusing the government there of hindering the peace process. At the same time Baku announced that Azerbaijani forces will conduct military drill is occupied Stepanakert on Wednesday.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry accused Armenia of “once again hindering peace agreement negotiations, continuing military-political provocations, as well as threats from landmines.”

“Armenia has chosen the path of continuing to threaten the peace process, lives of our citizens, restoration and reconstruction work carried out in the region,” the foreign ministry said.

“At the same time, despite its obligations, not only Armenia has not withdrawn its armed forces, which remain the main threat to peace and security in the region, it continues to support them financially, and has not refrained from the illegal transfer of weapons, military equipment, landmines to the territories of Azerbaijan,” Baku said, according to the APA news agency.

“Armenia also is refusing to hand over eight Azerbaijani villages, which are still under occupation,” the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said.

The issue of the so-called eight villages was raised earlier this summer by Baku, but garnered more attention when President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan complained to the President of the Council of Europe Charles Michel in a telephone conversation after failing to attend a meeting in Spain organized the by the EU leader.

While official Baku has not specified which eight villages it is referencing, Aliyev’s website has listed them as seven villages in Armenia’s Tavush Province and one village in the Ararat Province, that borders Nakhichevan.

Last month, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched on Baku’s claims about the eight villages in Armenia, by reminding Azerbaijan that the Armenian region of Artsvashen, once part of Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province, continued to remain occupied by Azerbaijan since the 1990s.

Presumably, Azerbaijani forces are launching their incessant attacks on villages and positions in Gegharkunik from Arstvashen.

Azerbaijan continued to provoke the situation by announcing that its armed forces will hold a military “victory” parade in Stepanakert on Wednesday to coincide with the November 9 national holiday, which marks the end of the brutal 2020 war in Artsakh, APA reported.

A similar parade is scheduled to be held in Baku.