Davit Ishkhanyan, one of the former Artsakh leaders being held in Azerbaijan, has issued a statement through his family condemning the trials conducted against him and other Armenian prisoners in Baku, describing them as part of a broader campaign against the Armenian people and Armenian statehood.
Ishkhanyan, a prominent ARF member, former member of the ARF Bureau, and former Speaker of the Artsakh National Assembly, is among the former political and military leaders of Artsakh captured by Azerbaijan following its September 2023 attack on Artsakh, which led to the forced displacement of the region’s entire Armenian population.
In his statement, Ishkhanyan urged Armenians not to lose strength during this difficult period.
“As for these difficult times, I can only wish our people strength of spirit, will and unity, and I must say: be strong,” he said.
Ishkhanyan also called attention to what he described as serious violations of human rights and international law during both the investigation and the trial process. He effectively joined fellow prisoner Ruben Vardanyan in urging Armenia’s Human Rights Defender, Anahit Manasyan, to seek access to the Armenian captives being held in Azerbaijan.
According to Ishkhanyan, such a visit would allow Armenia’s ombudswoman to receive direct information about the violations committed against the prisoners and the deeply flawed legal proceedings used to convict them.
Ishkhanyan also asked Manasyan to seek the full text of the guilty verdict issued against him and to provide it to his family in Armenia. He said he made the same request to Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Commissioner, Sabina Aliyeva, during her visit to him in prison on Tuesday.
In his statement, Ishkhanyan cited a portion of the concluding remarks he attempted to deliver during his trial, before being cut off by the presiding judge.
“This trial was opened not against 15 persons,” Ishkhanyan said. “This trial was opened against the Armenian people and the Armenian statehood with clear aims and a long-term strategy.”
The former leaders of Artsakh have rejected the charges brought against them by Azerbaijan. In February, an Azerbaijani military court sentenced five of them, including Ishkhanyan, to life imprisonment. Ruben Vardanyan and two others received 20-year prison sentences. International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have sharply criticized the proceedings.
Vardanyan had earlier appealed to Manasyan through a statement released by his family on April 21, asking her to seek permission from Azerbaijani authorities to visit the prisoners together with their relatives. Manasyan responded that her office does not have a mandate to inspect prison conditions in Azerbaijan or any other foreign state.
Vardanyan has also accused the Armenian government of indifference toward the fate of the 19 Armenian prisoners currently held by Baku. The government of Armenia has not issued a formal response to the trials, fueling accusations from opposition figures that Yerevan’s silence has only emboldened Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and other officials, however, maintain that Armenia is working to secure the captives’ release.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev again referred to the Armenian prisoners as “war criminals” during his video address Monday to the European Political Community summit in Yerevan. Pashinyan did not respond to Aliyev’s remarks, drawing sharp criticism from opposition forces and many Armenians who viewed the silence as another failure to defend Artsakh’s captured leaders on the international stage.
