Armenian MPs demand OSCE monitoring of trials of Armenian prisoners  in Baku 

ArmInfo. Deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia from the opposition faction "Armenia" sent letters to various OSCE structures demanding  that they immediately take measures to organize a mission to monitor  the trials of Armenian prisoners of war in Baku. The leader of the  faction Seyran Ohanyan wrote about this on his Facebook account.

According to him, the faction uses all available connections and  possible levers on a daily basis to restore the clearly violated  rights of the military-political leaders of Artsakh and Armenian  prisoners of war held in Baku prisons and return them to Armenia.

In particular, as Ohanyan emphasized, letters were sent to the OSCE  PA President Pia Kaume, the human rights rapporteur Karin Odebrik and  the representative for the South Caucasus, OSCE PA Vice President  Luis Gracia with a demand to immediately take measures to organize a  mission to monitor the trials of Armenian prisoners of war captured  in Baku and the military-political leadership of Artsakh.

The letters emphasize that the introduction of effective  international monitoring and accountability mechanisms is an  unavoidable necessity. The failure to hold Azerbaijan accountable is  a source of permissiveness and impunity for other authoritarian  regimes. "We hope that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will take the  necessary measures to address the problem of human rights violations  occurring in Azerbaijan, in particular, the illegal detention of the  military and political leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh, and their  release," the letters say.

The current and former military-political leadership of Artsakh was  taken hostage after the Azerbaijani aggression against the NKR on  September 19-20, 2023. For the second year in a row, in the face of  inaction by the international community, dozens of Armenian citizens  are illegally detained in Azerbaijan, subjected to cruel and  degrading treatment, torture. On January 17, under the chairmanship  of Judge Zeynal Agayev, the Baku Military Court began considering the  "indictment" against the former leaders of Nagorno- Karabakh on  fabricated criminal cases. Among the accused are three former  presidents of Nagorno- Karabakh Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan and  Arayik Harutyunyan. Also appearing before the court are former  Foreign Minister David Babayan, Parliament Speaker David Ishkhanyan,  former Commander of the Defense Army General Levon Mnatsakanyan,  General David Manukyan and former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan. On  January 16, Vardanyan made a statement in which he demanded that he  and his lawyer be given the opportunity to fully prepare for their  defense, that all violations and falsifications be eliminated, and  that his trial and that of all the other defendants be made public.  "I insist on a maximally open trial with the participation of  international journalists and representatives of humanitarian  organizations. I am convinced that only a real trial, not a  courtroom, will help take a step forward on the difficult path of  building new relations between our peoples," he emphasized, demanding  that his case be combined with the cases of the other defendants.  "More than 400 volumes of my case out of 422 are episodes of the  general case. Separating my case into a separate proceeding is an  artificial and unfounded decision," Vardanyan added. After a number  of Vardanyan's motions were rejected during the trial, he went on a  hunger strike on February 15. On February 26, Ruben Vardanyan's  international lawyer Jared Genser issued a statement in which he  reported a sharp deterioration in his client's health and called on  the international community to respond to the trial in Baku. Footage  from the last court hearing shows bruises and hematomas on  Vardanyan's face, indicating that force was used against the  philanthropist.