Baku Court Issues Verdict on Armenian Prisoners of War

The Baku court has sentenced each of the 13 Armenian prisoners of war unlawfully held in Azerbaijan to 6 years of imprisonment in a strict regime prison. Sputnik Azerbaijan reports that previously, the prosecutor had demanded 7 years of imprisonment for each of the accused, along with subsequent deportation.

Defense lawyers requested the court to acquit their clients and return them to their homeland. "After serving their sentence in the strict regime prison, they will all be forcibly deported," the report states.

Those sentenced to imprisonment today include Rafik Karapetyan, Gurgen Galoyan, Hrayr Tadevosyan, Vagarshak Maloyan, Sasun Yegiazaryan, Arsen Vardanyan, Vahagn Bahrikyan, Sedrak Soghomonyan, Arman Dilyan, Manuk Martoyan, Mels Ambardanyan, Andranik Mikaelyan, and Felix Grigoryan.

A similar verdict was issued the day before for another group of 13 Armenian captives. This is not the first trial against Armenian prisoners of war based on fabricated criminal cases. Typically, prisoners face false charges of "terrorism," “mercenarism,” and "illegally crossing the state border of Azerbaijan."

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously issued a statement condemning the criminal prosecution of captives and prisoners unlawfully held in Azerbaijan. The Ministry emphasized that the Azerbaijani authorities are grossly violating norms of international law. It called upon Baku to immediately release all prisoners.