European Parliament could hold emergency debates on unlawfully held Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan – source

Members of the European Parliament could initiate urgent debates regarding the alarming reports of torture and ill-treatment of Armenian prisoners of war and other captives in Azeri custody, a diplomatic source in Brussels told Armenpress. 

The Azeri show trial against the unlawfully detained Armenians, as well as the recent images of the detainees from the courtrooms showing apparent physical decline and signs of torture, caused widespread international calls for intervention, as well as concern among Members of the European Parliament.

The source in Brussels told Armenpress that discussions are currently taking place as to a possible reaction to the issue during the upcoming plenary session of the European Parliament. Emergency debates and adoption of a resolution over the issue could take place.

Azerbaijan has officially acknowledged that it is holding 23 Armenian prisoners despite an obligation to release all POWs and detainees. 

The detainees include former top officials of Nagorno-Karabakh such as the former presidents Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, as well as former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan. They were arrested after the 2023 Azeri offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh which resulted in the forced displacement of the region’s entire Armenian population of over 100,000. 

The former officials are all facing fabricated charges in what many experts and officials have described as sham trials.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan recently described the Azeri trials as “mock trials.”

Vardanyan, whose case has been separated from the others, recently announced a hunger strike in protest of the sham trial. In a statement, he called on world leaders and the international community to interfere. On February 25, during yet another court session of the Azeri military tribunal, Vardanyan’s health deteriorated and the hearing was postponed. 

Vardanyan has vehemently denied all charges against him which include “financing terrorism” and “illegally entering” Karabakh. Vardanyan, as well as many experts, have described the charges as falsifications. The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo earlier slammed the charges as bogus, emphasizing that Baku is using the show trials to cover up its crimes in Nagorno-Karabakh.  

Jared Genser, Vardanyan’s lawyer, recently said that his client’s health is in danger.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry addressed the issue in a statement on February 28.