David Ishkhanyan, the former President of the National Assembly of Artsakh, who has been held in ադրբեջանական captivity since October 3, 2023, has appealed from a Baku prison to Armenia’s Human Rights Defender.

Ishkhanyan asked for mediation with the relevant Azerbaijani authorities to obtain the full texts of the indictments against him and the others, as well as the full verdicts, in both Armenian and Azerbaijani, so they could be passed on to his family and relatives.

He stated that the investigation and trial were conducted with gross violations of human rights, international law, and Azerbaijan’s criminal procedure norms. According to Ishkhanyan, he was not allowed to fully deliver his final statement.

Ishkhanyan also said that he had submitted an appeal to Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Commissioner, Sabina Aliyeva, requesting that the full version of the verdict be delivered to his family.

Addressing the Armenian people, he wished them strength of spirit, will, and unity, saying: “Stay strong.”

Full statement:

Greetings to everyone.

We learned from the press that Ruben Vardanyan appealed to the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, asking her to visit him. I do not know whether the respected Defender will have the sense of responsibility and determination to visit us as well. If that happens, she will gain more detailed information and see firsthand how the entire investigation was conducted, and the extent of the serious and blatant violations that marked the entire process. Both the investigation and the trial were carried out with blatant violations of human rights, international law, international norms, and even the procedural requirements of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

At the end of the trial, during my final statement, I was unable to deliver my remarks in full. I was simply not allowed to deliver at least 30 to 40 percent of my final statement. But I managed to express what I now want to repeat to my people, and I would like to quote a small part of it:

“This trial is not against 15 individuals. This trial is against the Armenian people and Armenian statehood, with clear objectives and a long-term strategy. I began to suspect this during the investigation, and the trial itself turned that suspicion into conviction. Time will prove the truth of my words and thoughts.”

As for Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Defender, yesterday Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Ombudsperson, Sabina Aliyeva, visited us, and we were able to relay certain information to her. Since March 12, I had prepared an appeal letter to hand over to her, but for the past one or two months, for various reasons, I was unable either to meet with her or to deliver it. Yesterday I finally handed over my appeal letter, and in it I had one clear request: that she help ensure the full text of our verdict, in both Azerbaijani and Armenian, is delivered to my family and relatives.

The Human Rights Defender said she would ensure the Azerbaijani version is delivered to my family and that she would try to facilitate the matter.

As for the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, I now want to address her verbally and ask that she intervene and obtain, from the relevant Azerbaijani bodies, perhaps also through her counterpart, the full Armenian and Azerbaijani texts of our indictments and the full text of our verdict, and provide them to my family and relatives.

In these difficult times, I wish our people strength of spirit, strength of will, and unity. And I must say: stay strong.