On August 21, Siranush Sahakyan filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights over violations of rights of 15 Armenians illegally being held in Azerbaijan.
The complaint argues that the Baku Military Court proceedings violated Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It describes the trials as predetermined, lacking judicial independence and impartiality, and challenges the military court’s jurisdiction to try civilians.
It also cites violations of the presumption of innocence. Senior Azerbaijani officials, including Ilham Aliyev, publicly labeled the defendants “terrorists,” “war criminals” and “separatists” before final judgments, while state and pro-government media presented the accusations as facts.
The application details restrictions on the right to defense. The case reportedly consists of 422 volumes and about 105,000 pages, much of it without adequate translation. Requests for access, preparation time and communication with the defendants were rejected or delayed. After the judgment, prisoners could only read an unauthenticated version, while families received no copies and lawyers only excerpts. Azerbaijan’s appellate court upheld the convictions and sentences on August 6.
The complaint also raises Article 7, arguing that participation in military operations or carrying weapons cannot itself constitute terrorism or other criminal conduct without establishing individual guilt.
The case concerns former Artsakh Presidents Bako Sahakyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, Artsakh National Assembly President Davit Ishkhanyan, Davit Babayan, Davit Manukyan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Madat Babayan, Garik Martirosyan, Levon Balayan, Davit Allahverdyan, Vasili Beglaryan, Erik Ghazaryan, Gurgen Stepanyan and Melikset Pashayan.
Sahakyan has filed a separate ECtHR application on behalf of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, whose case was tried separately in Baku.
An ECtHR ruling finding violations could strip the Baku trials of much of their legal credibility and seriously weaken Azerbaijan’s attempt to use those proceedings to legitimize its official narrative of the Artsakh conflict.
