Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General Launches Criminal Case Over Burning of Their Flag

On April 14, during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship in Yerevan, Armenia, the Azerbaijani flag was set ablaze in a demonstrative act aimed at inciting national hatred and hostility. This was announced by the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, as reported by Azerbaijani news outlets.

The statement noted that a criminal case has been initiated in the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General’s office regarding this incident, which is seen as an embodiment of ethnic hatred and hostility towards Azerbaijan. The charges are based on Article 12.2, 283.2.1 of the Criminal Code (incitement to national hatred and hostility with the use of violence), Article 12.2, 283.2.2 (incitement to hatred and hostility by a person using their official position), and Article 12.2, 324 (insult to the state flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan).

In order to hold Aram Nikolyan and other individuals involved in this crime accountable for inciting national hatred and hostility, the appropriate requests will be sent to foreign states for their prosecution, and cooperation with international organizations will be ensured.

Azerbaijan calls on the international community to sharply condemn Armenia, and to ensure that Armenia fulfills its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law.

It is recalled that during the solemn ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship's opening, an incident occurred when designer and stylist Aram Nikolyan unexpectedly ran onto the stage, took the Azerbaijani flag from the hand of a flag bearer, and set it on fire. Following this incident, Azerbaijan announced that its athletes would return home.