Prosecutor's Office on the Publication of Captives' Testimonies

The statement by Gor Abrahamyan, advisor to the Chief Prosecutor: It has become particularly noticeable in recent times that during the preliminary investigation phase of specific criminal cases related to various episodes of the 2020 Artsakh war, there have been instances where attorneys representing the interests of individuals of different statuses in these cases have publicly released, with distorted content based on their own interests, fragments of preliminary investigative materials, including the pre-trial testimonies of participants in the proceedings.

The latest such occurrence concerns the publication of specific sections from the pre-trial testimonies of a group of Armenian servicemen who were captured by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and then returned, labeled as victims in a particular case on the social media platform Facebook. This behavior is unacceptable both morally and legally, as it serves as a manipulative tactic aimed at shaping public opinion.

I would like to remind that Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia clearly states that data from the preliminary investigation may only be published with the permission of the body conducting the investigation. This means that refraining from the publication of preliminary investigation data is a clear legislative requirement applicable to all subjects equally.

We urge our attorney colleagues, who are responsible for defending the interests of all individuals involved in criminal cases, including participants in the proceedings, to refrain from actions that may infringe on the rights of others or turn the formation of biased opinions regarding individuals into a tactic of defense strategy before final legal evaluations of their actions are made.

Especially considering the public sensitivity regarding cases related to the war, we strongly call for strict adherence to the legislative requirement of not publishing preliminary investigation data without authorization. At the same time, it has been instructed to the bodies conducting the investigation to take all necessary measures to exclude such incidents.