On January 21, the trial of the military-political leadership of Artsakh and other prisoners continued.
NEWS.amasked Siranush Sahakyan, advocate of interests of Armenian prisoners at the ECHR, several questions related to the trial.
- Mrs. Sahakyan, yesterday the trial of the military-political leadership of Artsakh and other prisoners continued.
Azerbaijani media also reported that the lawyers submitted a motion to replace the restraining order of their clients with house arrest.
However, it is not clarified what house arrest means in the case of Armenian prisoners. How do you rate all this?
- This process will not be accepted by other courts and will not be recognized as legitimate. This is an artificial process, the main purpose of which is to punish Artsakh's leadership for the sake of the statehood of Artsakh they condemn Artsakh's right to self-determination and the people involved in that process As for the testimonies, it should be noted that they are extracted under the threat of life, written by special services and forced on Armenian hostages and prisoners.
As for yesterday's motions to replace the restraining order with house arrest, we are still trying to understand the problem.
- Mrs. Sahakyan, you and a number of Armenian human rights organizations appealed to international organizations, ambassadors accredited in Baku, calling for monitoring of the judicial process. Do you have any information whether foreign diplomats or representatives of international organizations are participating in the trial?
- The responses are still being received. We will publish the information after it has been completed. But there are already known cases when human rights defenders have applied to Azerbaijan for the purpose of attending the court hearings, but they have not been granted an entry permit.
- The meetings are attended by a limited number of Azerbaijani media outlets, which publish materials with almost the same content. Do you have any additional information?
- According to the information I received from Ruben Vardanyan's family, which was conveyed to them through his lawyer in Azerbaijan, Abraham Berman, Ruben Vardanyan declared that he is not guilty at the very first session.
Vardanyan also proposed to observe a minute of silence for the victims of the conflict, regardless of their nationality. Vardanyan then submitted two motions regarding the consolidation of the cases and the provision of additional time to review the case materials about petitions.
