The Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan and the State Security Service have issued a joint statement on the Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) being held in that country. According to Azerbaijani media, the report states that the preliminary investigation of the fake criminal cases against 14 Armenian POWs, who allegedly committed other terrorist acts in the territory of Azerbaijan, has been completed. The case was sent to court.
It is about the reservists of Shirak captured from Khtsaberd after the trilateral announcement on the cessation of the 44-day war.
Human rights activists state that the criminalization of the issue of Armenian servicemen is a gross violation of the post-war humanitarian process and international requirements guaranteeing human rights. Armenian servicemen are POWs, they have been held in their places of detention solely for the purpose of performing their legal duty to perform military service, and they must be released and returned to Armenia without any preconditions.
The European Union, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, international human rights organizations and many prominent figures have called on Azerbaijan to release all POWs immediately without preconditions.
