No steps yet – senior official on possibility of ICC lawsuit against Azerbaijani leaders

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. At this moment there are no steps towards filing a lawsuit against Azerbaijani leaders in the International Criminal Court (ICC) but nothing can be ruled out, Armenia’s Representative for International Legal Matters Yeghishe Kirakosyan has said.

Kirakosyan was asked by reporters why Armenia hasn’t filed a lawsuit against Azerbaijani leaders since joining the ICC by ratifying the Rome Statute.

He said that the ICC tries individuals for alleged genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.

The ICC initiates proceedings in three ways: at the initiative of the prosecutor, upon the presentation of the situation by states, and at the initiative of the UN Security Council.

“As of this moment there are no steps yet, but nothing can be ruled out,” Kirakosyan said.

He declined to comment when asked whether the Armenian side plans to file a lawsuit against Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev for ethnic cleansing against Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. “I cannot voice issues that could become subject of internal discussions,” he said.

Kirakosyan said he attaches great importance to Armenia’s joining the Rome Statute because any legal process, be it at the ICJ or ICC, had and will have highly important security significance.

PM Nikol Pashinyan had recently suggested that at some phase he’d be open to discuss the possibility of Armenia and Azerbaijan reciprocally dropping their International Court of Justice (ICJ) lawsuits against each other. Kirakosyan refused to comment but said there is no such issue presently.

“I wouldn’t want to express my stance because it would turn out that I am commenting. It’s best to refrain from comments at this moment. At this moment there is no such issue. The examination of our lawsuits continues, the procedural steps necessary for the examination of lawsuits continue,” he said.