Polish Pro-Armenian Lawyer Receives Threats from Azerbaijan: 'Your End Will Be Like This'

Polish politician Buzek initiated a petition to hold Azerbaijan accountable at the Hague Court from the very first days of the war. After the war concluded, he did not cease his fight for justice. Sputnik Armenia conducted an exclusive interview with the Polish figure.

Azerbaijan has once again attempted to obscure its military crimes with oil dollars. This time, they offered $50,000 to Polish politician Tomasz Lech Buzek for his silence. The matter is that his book titled ‘Azerbaijan's War Crimes Against Armenians: Artsakh–2020’ is set to be published in a few days in Poland. It recounts the inhumane and criminal treatment of Armenian prisoners of war by the Azerbaijanis.

“The Azerbaijani government will give you $50,000 if you do not publish the book about Azerbaijan's crimes. If you are interested, post a picture of Baku on your Facebook page on January 25,” was the offer received recently by Mr. Buzek.

Instead of a photo of Baku, he published a screenshot of the bribery attempt and his response to Aliyev: “Free the Armenian prisoners of war.” Considering Aliyev's “interest” in the book, Buzek promised to send him a copy.

Mr. Buzek stated that nearly 80 percent of the facts collected in the book were sent by the Azerbaijanis themselves. “They send me horrific photos and videos depicting how they kill, forgive me for the more blunt term, how they slaughter Armenian prisoners of war. They send me these brutal materials and boast about their crimes,” the author recounted.

He draws parallels between the Artsakh war and World War II, when a large number of Polish prisoners of war were executed.

A lawyer by profession, Tomasz Lech Buzek has always been interested in human rights advocacy, but began to seriously engage with the issue years ago when he received a book about the Sumgait massacres as a gift from his Armenian acquaintances. He became intrigued by the book, read it, and began to gather additional information from various sources about what had occurred.

“These events did not happen in the distant past but only years ago, yet the world does not talk about it,” Buzek observed injustice in this and decided to make efforts in this direction. In 2018, he visited Armenia for the first time and subsequently wrote a book titled ‘The Cry of an Armenian Mother: The Genocide of Armenians in Sumgait in 1988’. He admits that from that day, his connection with Armenians grew stronger.

He learned about the second war in Artsakh early in the morning of September 27 from an acquaintance in Gyumri. On the same day, he initiated a petition on change.org demanding that Azerbaijan be held accountable at an international tribunal for crimes against humanity. He mentioned that he planned to collect 250,000 signatures, but a total of 126,172 were collected. He has suspicions that Azerbaijanis tried to sabotage the petition’s website.

“At first, there were 1,000-5,000 signatures daily, but after November 2, it dropped to 100-200. Many Armenians from Canada, Australia, the USA, and elsewhere wrote that they signed, but those signatures did not show up,” he said. The highest number of signatures came from France.

For some time now, Tomasz Lech Buzek has been receiving threats from Azerbaijanis—around 10-15 letters daily, mostly sent from fake accounts. Recently, they sent a video showing how they bury the bodies of Armenian prisoners of war. Accompanying the video was a message: “Your end will be like this.”

— Do you not fear for your safety and that of your family? I ask Buzek. — Monte Melkonian feared nothing. He should have become an archaeologist but became a hero. I will not back down; I fear nothing because the truth always prevails. I want to achieve justice regarding the prisoners of war. First and foremost, this is for Armenian mothers. I will fight until all prisoners of war return home; it is the responsibility of the whole world, the Polish politician responds.

His Armenian lawyer Babken Khanzadyan mentions that they are currently discussing with European and Armenian colleagues what steps can be taken to continue the pursuit of justice. “The Azerbaijani embassy has also sent a note of protest against Buzek. He dedicates 90% of his time to this cause, and the Azerbaijanis fear this type of activity; they see it as a threat because it raises significant noise,” said lawyer Khanzadyan.

He noted that they plan to organize large banners in Polish and English on the streets of Warsaw, as well as on cars, demanding the release of prisoners of war. Notably, Buzek has not yet visited Artsakh but promises that he will certainly do so. Meanwhile, he and his lawyer Babken Khanzadyan plan to come to Armenia concerning the issue of prisoners of war. Meetings are scheduled with the human rights defenders of Armenia and Artsakh, among others.