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The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) on Friday denounced the fabricated charges against Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan and deplored the lack of government efforts to protect Artsakh's military and political leaders from Azerbaijani persecution. Its full statement is provided below.

"On January 17,  Armenian prisoners, who have been illegally held in Baku prisons for more than a year on fabricated charges, went on trial in Azerbaijan.

As a result of the military aggression against the Republic of Artsakh, which was established on the inalienable right to self-determination, the Azerbaijani regime, after forcibly displacing the people of Artsakh from their homeland and violating the fundamental norms of international humanitarian law, is attempting to give legal cover to its criminal actions.

It is obvious to any reasonable person that the trial which has begun in Baku is a mockery of justice, fairness, and international law. Armenian prisoners of war and civilians are being subjected to methods that violate international human rights standards.

The criminal prosecutions against them are being carried out with blatant violations of criminal procedural norms, including the denial of the right to defense and the lack of opportunity to familiarize themselves with the case materials in a comprehensible language. It is clear that the Baku regime is doing everything possible to cover up its illegal actions with a sham trial.

This show is not a judicial process, but a despicable symbiosis of the Inquisition and fascist trials. Throughout history, there have been many instances when dictators have judged freedom fighters, fascists have judged dissidents, and the victors have judged the defeated. However, the anti-Armenian and misanthropic Aliyev regime, with the silent indifference of international circles, is attempting to create a new, blatant precedent in which the genocidal perpetrator judges the genocidal victim.

The Republican Party of Armenia declares that our compatriots, who are hostages of the Aliyev regime in Baku prisons, are innocent and just.

By judging the military-political leadership of Artsakh, the dictatorial regime in Baku is trying to judge the entire Armenian people, to belittle their dignity, freedom-loving spirit, history and faith.

We regret to note that state efforts to protect the military and political leaders of Artsakh from Azerbaijani persecution are lacking, and national efforts are far from sufficient.

The judicial farce that is starting in Baku has also become possible due to the criminal inaction and capitulationist policy of the Armenian authorities.

The current administration of Armenia is, in fact, complicit in the illegality that begins today.

The Executive Body of the Republican Party of Armenia strongly condemns the illegal persecution of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians by official Baku and calls on the international community and human rights organizations to raise their voices in defense of the Armenian prisoners in Baku prisons, demanding their unconditional release. We call on our compatriots in Armenia and the Diaspora to support our hostage compatriots in every way possible.

The Republican Party of Armenia reaffirms that, throughout its activities, including on the international stage, will continue to prioritize this issue in the pursuit of justice and expresses its support for the families of all prisoners."