Yet another former leader of Nagorno-Karabakh jailed in Azerbaijan has accused Armenia’s leadership of being indifferent to the fate of Armenian prisoners and hostages.
Major-General Davit Manukyan, who had served as a deputy commander of Karabakh’s Armenia-backed army, challenged Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to publicly comment on “fabricated and false” accusations leveled against himself and seven other former Karabakh Armenian leaders remaining in Azerbaijani captivity.
“Sadly, those [prisoners] who are held here do not feel the breath of the Republic of Armenia,” he said in an audio message communicated to his family by phone and publicized on Monday.
The former Karabakh leaders were captured right after the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive that restored Baku’s full control over Karabakh and forced the region’s Armenian population to flee to Armenia. They all denied a long list of war crimes charges leveled against them. Five of them, including Manukyan, were sentenced to life in prison, while the three others, only because of their age of over sixty, received 20-year prison sentences in February this year in trials denounced by Amnesty International as a “travesty.”
They all deny the accusations, including those concerning the planning, preparation, and conduct of the 2020 war in Karabakh.
Appealing to Pashinyan, Manukyan said: “Since you were Armenia’s prime minister and at the same time commander-in-chief at that time — and the planning of the war starts precisely from that level — I urge you to present your position on these specific accusations,” he said. “Failure to respond will mean that you agree with the false accusations, thereby making not only you but also the entire Armenian people complicit.”
Two other Armenian prisoners — billionaire Ruben Vardanyan and former Karabakh parliament speaker Davit Ishkhanyan — have likewise lambasted Pashinyan in their statements from an Azerbaijani prison. Ishkhanyan charged earlier this year that Armenia’s leadership does not want Baku to free the 15 Armenian prisoners. Pashinyan, who is currently on vacation, has not reacted to the claims.
The Armenian premier and other officials insist that Yerevan has been doing its best to secure the prisoners’ release. Their critics dismiss these assurances.
Full Statement by Major-General Davit Manukyan
Major-General Davit Manukyan, former First Deputy Commander of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, has released this voice message from a Baku prison:
Dear compatriots, I hope you are partially aware that the judicial process based on the appeal of 15 citizens of the Republic of Armenia continues in the Baku Court of Appeals. I must note that this legal process is not directed solely against these 15 individuals, but against the past and present of the Armenian people, since, according to the indictment and the verdict, it dates back to the beginning of the last century.
Of course, regarding all these fabricated and falsely advanced charges, my colleagues and I continue our just struggle in court, refusing to allow our rights, as well as the rights of the Armenian people and Armenian statehood, to be humiliated.
At this moment, I address my words to the citizen of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Vova Pashinyan, regarding one of the false charges brought against us. According to Articles 100.1 and 100.2 of this country’s Criminal Code, we face charges for planning, preparing, and waging an aggressive war in September 2020. This is despite all the undeniable evidence and facts we have presented, and furthermore, it all took place in plain sight of the international community.
Nevertheless, since you were the Prime Minister and simultaneously the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Armenia at that time—and the planning of a war begins precisely at that level—I urge you to publicly state your position specifically regarding these charges. Failure to respond will mean that you agree with these falsely advanced accusations, thereby making not only yourself but the entire Armenian nation complicit.
I hope the word on your lips from the past has not been lost. In addition, I expect to know the official status of those of us held here, in accordance with the Republic of Armenia’s official position.
It is also painful that those held here do not feel the presence of the Republic of Armenia; but it is what it is; this is the reality.
Due to time constraints, I will stop here.
Farewell for now.