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Hero of Artsakh, General Vitaly Balasanyan issued a congratulatory message on the 28th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi. The message reads:

"Dear compatriots,

I congratulate the Armenian people on May 8 marking the 28th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi city-fortress.

During the Artsakh war we have carried out many victorious actions, while the liberation of Shushi stands out with its strategic significance and symbolism.

With this operation, the Armenian armed forces succeeded in ending the bombing of Stepanakert. Besides, the liberation of Shushi reaffirmed the right of Armenian Artsakh to live freely in a symbolic way.

I have to record that this day, which has become symbolic for all Armenians, is marred by a disgraceful trial, which again becomes symbolic. A trial as part of which Robert Kocharyan, a participant of the operation to liberate Shushi, the chairman of the Nagorno-Karabakh State Defense Committee during the war and the first and second president of Artsakh and Armenia, is being kept under arrest on groundless charges.

A trial faced by Seyran Ohanyan and Yuri Khachaturov, the generals who took part in the liberation war and greatly contributed to our army building.

The people who won the war will appear before the court on May 8. Those who risked their lives for the victory and freedom of the Armenian people.

The irony of the fate is that after the liberation of Shushi, the military elite was tried in Azerbaijan for handing over the city, while today the liberators of Shushi are standing trial in Armenia. This is a shame for all of us and we must do our best to clean this stigma from us.

I am sure that time and history will put things in the right place.

We will reject defeatism and will strive for new victories.”