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Armenia’s former Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan has reacted sharply to Azerbaijan’s “cynical” statement on a criminal probe into the video showing Azerbaijani soldiers executing unarmed Armenian prisoners of war (POWs). Tatoyan’s full statement is provided below.

“After the dissemination of the video of the brutal killing by the Azerbaijani Commando squad of Armenian prisoners on 13 September 2022, the Azeri government posted a video of the 44-day war involving Armenian troops, trying to “sell” it to the international community as a sign of equivalence with their latest atrocity.

Afterwards, they were forced to announce that they had initiated a criminal case.

But not being able to stand it, they presented as if their civil society suddenly saw that video, took pity and demanded that a case be filed, and the Azerbaijani government filed a case.

In fact, this is how cynicism happens.

How are we to understand that during the 44-day war with our personnel, we recorded 287 objective [video] evidences of torture, beheading and dismemberment of Armenians by the Azerbaijani military, not including other war crimes?

So how do we understand these criminals being rewarded and glorified at the highest state level?

And the international community should keep in mind that the Azerbaijani crimes are the result of the state-sponsored policy of hatred toward Armenians for years in that country, parts of a single chain, which has not stopped in the slightest, being covered by the false veil of Azerbaijani peace.

Another piece of information for the international community: a criminal case was initiated by the Armenian Investigative Committee during the war, and that is not unique, but rather, all cases are subject to investigation in Armenia.”