Saturday, October 14 2023 16:57

ArmInfo." While blatantly violating the international law, Azerbaijan conducts an arbitrary  trial against an innocent person based on a fabricated criminal case.

  Artsakh / Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan wrote on X, touching on the illegal trial of 68-year-old Artsakh citizen Vagif Khachatryan, who was kidnapped by Azerbaijan at an  illegal checkpoint near the Hakari bridge in the Lachin corridor on July 29, 2023, while being transported  by the ICRC to Armenia for an urgent heart surgery.

"The international community must stand for the human rights and  values that it champions by ensuring the immediate and safe return of  Vagif Khachatryan to Armenia," he added.

On October 13, an illegal trial of Artsakh resident Vagif Khachtaryan  was held in Baku. Video footage distributed by the Azerbaijani media  shows the helplessness of Khachatryan, who was put on trial on  far-fetched charges that have nothing to do with reality. Khachatryan  could not hold back his tears at what was happening.

A few days after the abduction, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's  Office announced the detention of Khachatryan, accusing him of war  crimes allegedly committed in 1991. The Armenian Foreign Ministry  qualified the actions of the Azerbaijanis as a kidnapping, and HRD  Anahit Manasyan noted that the incident is  a gross violation of  international humanitarian law, since Vagif Khachatryan was under the  protection of the ICRC. On July 30, Armenia's representative for  international legal affairs, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, reported that an  application to protect the rights of Vagif Khachatryan was submitted  to the European Court of Human Rights with a requirement to apply an  interim measure to Azerbaijan.