Armenian MP draws British, Latvian ambassadors`attention to show  trials of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan 

ArmInfo.Armenian MP Taguhi Tovmasyan has sposted the following message on her Facebook account/

"During my stay in Riga, while participating in seminars on strategic  communications, I had the opportunity to meet the British Ambassador  to Latvia, H.E. Mr. Paul Brummell. The conversation was very  productive and warm. We discussed several issues related to the  current situation in the region.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I asked the Ambassador, as a  representative of the international community, to keep the issue of  the unjust trials and lack of transparency concerning Armenian  prisoners of war in Azerbaijani prisons in his focus.

The issue of the return of Armenian prisoners of war is an integral  part of my daily work. I use every possible and impossible means to  achieve their return home."

The next session of the show trial against the Artsakh leadership in  Baku is scheduled for January 27. 

According to reports, decisions on the petitions will be announced  there.

On January 17, under the chairmanship of Judge Zeynal Agayev, the  Baku Military Court began considering the "indictment" against the  former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Among the accused are three  former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh: Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako  Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan. Also appearing before the court will  be former Foreign Minister David Babayan, Parliament Speaker David  Ishkhanyan, former Defense Army Commander General Levon Mnatsakanyan,  General David Manukyan and former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan.

On January 16, Vardanyan made a statement in which he demanded that  he and his lawyer be given the opportunity to fully prepare for their  defense; that all violations and falsifications be eliminated; that  his trial and that of all the other defendants be made public. "I  insist on a maximally open trial with the participation of  international journalists and representatives of humanitarian  organizations. I am convinced that only a real trial, not a  courtroom, will help take a step forward on the difficult path of  building new relations between our peoples," he emphasized.

In conclusion, he demanded that his case be combined with the cases  of the other defendants. "More than 400 volumes of my case out of 422  are episodes of a common case. Separating my case into a separate  proceeding is an artificial and unfounded decision," Vardanyan added.