Day: December 19, 2023

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has obliged Azerbaijan to pay 16,000 euros to relatves of three Armenian soldiers killed in 2016. Azerbaijan has also been obliged to pat 2,780 euros for costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable.

The applicants are ten Armenian nationals who were born between 1959 and 1998 and live in
Yerevan and Stepanavan (Armenia).

The applicants are the parents and/or siblings of Edgar Narayan, Erik Abovyan and Shavarsh Melikyan, who were soldiers in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and were killed on 29 December 2016 while on duty at the Bitlis military post, close to the village of Chinari in the Tavush region of Armenia.

A criminal investigation was opened by the Chief Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia on 29 December 2016. On the same day, the investigator examined the site of the incident and drew up a report. Further evidence was adduced in the investigation, notably witness statements and forensic reports.

On the basis of that evidence, the Armenian investigative authorities established that on the morning of 29 December 2016 Çingiz Gurbanov, a soldier in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, had crossed the border into Armenian territory, advanced towards Bitlis and shot the three soldiers.

Relying on Articles 2 (right to life), 13 (right to an effective remedy) and 14 (prohibition of
discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicants complain that their
relatives were killed unlawfully given that there was no ongoing armed conflict at the time; that they
were discriminated against because of their ethnicity and national origin; and that Azerbaijan failed
to conduct an effective investigation into the killings․

Azerbaijan says border issues shouldn’t get in way of peace deal with Armenia  TODAY

Azerbaijan says border issues shouldn’t get in way of peace deal with Armenia  ThePrint

Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panahov has announced an uncompromising position on violations of the law