From Azerbaijani prison, ex-Karabakh leader Davit Ishkhanian denounces trials and urges Armenians to "be strong"

Davit Ishkhanian, one of eight former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh jailed in Azerbaijan, issued a defiant message from prison on Wednesday, condemning their trials and urging Armenians to stay “strong.” In the statement circulated through his family, he also called on Armenia’s human rights ombudswoman, Anahit Manasian, to visit the detainees in Azerbaijan and to gather information on what he described as “blatant violations” of human rights and international law during the trials and earlier investigations.

“As for these difficult times, I can only wish our people strength of spirit, will and unity, and I must say: be strong,” the statement said.

Ishkhanian, who served as Karabakh’s parliament speaker, cited an excerpt from his closing remarks at trial — which he said were cut short by the presiding judge — declaring: “This trial was opened not against 15 persons, this trial was opened against the Armenian people and the Armenian statehood with clear aims and a long-term strategy.” He asked Manasian to try to obtain the full text of the verdict against him and share it with his family in Armenia.

He added that he made the same request to Azerbaijan’s ombudswoman, Sabina Aliyeva, when she visited him in prison on Tuesday. The former Karabakh leaders were captured immediately after Azerbaijan’s 2023 offensive that restored Baku’s full control over Nagorno-Karabakh and triggered a mass exodus of the region’s Armenian population to Armenia.

They denied a range of war crimes charges brought against them.

In February this year, an Azerbaijani military court sentenced five of the men, including Ishkhanian, to life imprisonment, while Ruben Vardanyan and two others received 20-year prison terms at the end of two trials denounced by Amnesty International as a “travesty.” Vardanyan, who held the second-highest position in Karabakh’s leadership from November 2022 to February 2023, appealed to Manasian in a statement released by his family on April 21, urging her to ask Azerbaijani authorities for permission to visit the prisoners together with their relatives.

Manasian responded that she has no mandate to inspect prison conditions in Azerbaijan or any other foreign country. Vardanyan has also accused Armenia’s government of indifference to the fate of 19 Armenian prisoners held by Baku.

The government has not officially reacted to the trials, prompting opposition allegations of complicity, while Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other officials insist Yerevan has been doing its best to secure their release. On Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev again labeled the Armenian prisoners “war criminals” during a European Political Community summit in Yerevan via video link.

Pashinian did not respond, drawing sharp criticism from the Armenian opposition.