In a new report issued on Monday, the International Commission of Jurists confirmed that the rights of Artsakh leaders who were tried by a military court in Baku were compromised and the court proceedings “fell short of the guarantees of fairness and equality of arms required under international human rights law.”

The report entitled, “Justice Under Pressure: Independence of Lawyers and the Right to a Fair Trial in Azerbaijan,” found that “the independence of the legal profession in Azerbaijan remains compromised by executive control and influence over the Bar Association, discriminatory admission practices, the punitive use of disciplinary proceedings, and the harassment and prosecution of independent lawyers.”

“These deficiencies, together with the lack of independence of the judiciary, deprive defendants in criminal proceedings of the substantive protections that the right to a fair trial requires under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights,” the ICJ said.

The detailed report exposes structural and institutional flaws Azerbaijan’s entire justice system and takes the trial of Artsakh leaders as a case study “reflecting wider issues in the administration of justice” in the country.

The ICJ found that Artsakh leaders “were tried before a military court; that defendants were denied effective access to counsel of their choosing; that case materials were withheld or provided in a language the accused did not understand; that defense motions were dismissed without reasoning and omitted from the trial record; that interpretation was inadequate or absent; and that public access, including by accredited diplomatic representatives, was denied.”

“The cases were transferred to the Baku Military Court, even though at least eight of thedefendants were civilians, and therefore should only be tried in ordinary, not military courts, in accordance with international law and standards,” the ICJ report said.

“According to publicly available reports, these trials are marked by practices that violate basic guarantees of justice ‘a fundamentally unfair procedural situation has been created, where the defense is deprived of any realistic opportunity to contest the charges or prove innocence. In such conditions, the very concept of a fair trial turns into a formality, devoid of any content,” the report said citing an investigative piece published in January, 2025 by the French Le Monde newspaper.

“The trials were conducted largely behind closed doors, with only State media permitted access; international observers, foreign media and family members of the defendants were denied access to the hearings,” the report said.

“The ICJ report confirms what the Armenian Legal Center and many human rights advocates/organizations have long warned: the proceedings against the former Artsakh leaders are not credible judicial proceedings, but politically driven trials taking place in a justice system where judicial independence, access to counsel, and basic fair trial guarantees are fundamentally compromised,” Ken Hachikian, the chair of the Armenian Legal Center told Asbarez on Monday.

“Azerbaijan cannot use the language of law to legitimize the unlawful detention and punishment of Armenian hostages and POWs. Nothing short of the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian prisoners illegally held by Azerbaijan can remedy the injustice documented in this report,” Hachikian added.

Regarding the separate trial of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, the ICJ report pointed out that charges brought against the defendant dated back to 1988, when Vardanyan did not hold office in Artsakh.

“Vardanyan assumed public functions in Nagorno-Karabakh in late 2022, yet the prosecution brought charges dating back to 1988 in connection with the first Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite evidence that at the time he was a student at Moscow State University,” the ICJ report revealed.

:The prosecution of Vardanyan for conduct alleged to have occurred in 1988, more than three decades before his assumption of public office, raises fundamental concerns under the principle of legality. Vardanyan held no political position at the time the charges relate to and could not have foreseen that conduct from that era would form the basis of criminal charges upon his later entry into political office,” the report added.

“The temporal distance between the alleged conduct and prosecution, combined with the timing of charges brought only after Vardanyan assumed a leadership position in a political dispute, suggests application of criminal law in an arbitrary manner. The principle of legality requires that criminal liability be foreseeable and that criminal law be applied with precision and clarity, not selectively against individuals based on their subsequent political activities,” the report explained.

In the conclusion of the report, the ICJ has urged Azerbaijani authorities “to ensure that the Azerbaijan Bar Association operates as a genuinely independent self-governing body, to cease reprisals against lawyers representing clients in politically sensitive cases, to reinstate lawyers disbarred in violation of international law and standards, including those whose disbarments the European Court of Human Rights has found to violate Convention rights, and to ensure that all defendants have effective access to counsel of their choosing at all stages of the proceedings, including on appeal.”

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, visibly unhinged, screams at a citizen during a rally in Yerevan on May 18 (Video grab)

Hours after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan raged against a woman during his election campaign event, he unleashed his fury on an Artsakh Armenian who approached him during another event on Monday.

Arthur Osipyan, the Artsakh Armenian who approached the prime minister, was later arrested and charged with “hooliganism.” Osipyan was a vocal opponent of Artsakh’s last regime, which Pashinyan overtly supported prior to the war.

Yet prosecutors in Armenia announced on Tuesday that they are not investigation Pashinyan for threatening to “kill” his political opponents during the confrontation he had on Monday with the woman, Dr. Arpine Soghoyan, whose brother, senior military medic Hrant Papikyan, has been missing since the 2020 Artsakh War.

Pashinyan reacted with rage against Osipyan who approached Pashinyan to ask him about his support for Artsakh from 2018 to 2020.

The heated exchange resulted in Osipyan being dragged away.

Pashinyan then rushed toward Osipyan, picked up a megaphone and began hurling and shouting insults.

“These Karabakh pseudo-elites must get the hell out of here,” Pashinyan screamed. “What are you doing here? … You should have died when there was the Karabakh issue. Why are you alive at all, you scumbag?”

Osipyan’s attorney, Roman Yeritsyan, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that his client was detained overnight.

“At this moment he is at the Arabkir police department,” Yeritsyan said adding that Osipyan’s phone is switched off and his Facebook account has been blocked.

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Catholicos Aram I presents a book about Artsakh church to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Ahead of his meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Monday, Catholicos Aram I met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, with whom issues pertaining to the rights of Artsakh Armenians and the release of Armenian prisoners being held in Baku were discussed.

During the conversation, Aram I stated that the return of Artsakh Armenians, the restoration of their rights, the protection of Armenian churches and historical monuments, and the immediate release of the Artsakh leaders currently imprisoned in Baku remain imperative priorities for the Armenian Church and people. In this context, Aram I called for the Vatican’s continued support, the Catholicosate press office reported.

Cardinal Parolin, who is the second highest ranking official in the Vatican, briefed the Catholicos about the Vatican’s initiatives related to Artsakh in general and particularly regarding efforts toward the release of prisoners.

The Catholicos also addressed the situation in Lebanon and commended the consistent efforts of the Lebanese government under the leadership of the President and the Prime Minister.

Referring to southern Lebanon, Aram I stressed that Israel must withdraw its military forces from the region, allowing the Lebanese Army to assume full responsibility for the country’s security and enabling the Lebanese state to reassert its sovereignty throughout all Lebanese territories. Aram I also underscored the urgent need to strengthen internal unity among Lebanon’s various communities and warmly welcomed the Vatican’s continued support for Lebanon.

The Catholicos then turned to the challenges facing Christian communities across the Middle East, emphasizing the urgent necessity of halting Christian emigration from the region and highlighting the important role of the Churches in this regard.

For his part, Cardinal Parolin addressed the difficulties confronting Lebanon and shared information regarding the Vatican’s ongoing diplomatic efforts with Israel and the United States.

Cardinal Parolin also welcomed a proposal made by Aram I to organize special consultative meetings at the Vatican for Christian spiritual leaders in Lebanon, as well as for Christian leaders throughout the Middle East.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Aram I presented Cardinal Parolin with a commemorative gift depicting the Virgin Mary, along with a two-volume publication featuring Armenian churches in Karabakh. Cardinal Parolin, in turn, offered a commemorative gift to Aram I.

Following the hour-long meeting, Aram I also had the opportunity to hold a private conversation with Cardinal Parolin concerning several sensitive matters.

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The Armenian Center for Political Rights, a watchdog organization focused on detecting, responding to, and preventing political persecution while safeguarding citizens’ political rights, issued an urgent statement warning about threats made by Nikol Pashinyan against opposition figures ahead of Armenia’s parliamentary elections.

According to the statement, on May 18 — three weeks before the elections — Pashinyan threatened four opposition political figures with physical retaliation, three of whom lead political parties participating in the campaign.

The organization noted that Pashinyan attempted to justify the threats by referencing a video of unknown origin showing four masked and armed individuals threatening him. Without presenting evidence, Pashinyan allegedly attributed the video to the opposition and claimed his political rivals were backing the individuals shown.

The Armenian Center for Political Rights stated that previous threats made by Pashinyan have later been followed by actions from law enforcement bodies, arguing that such rhetoric during an election period raises serious concerns regarding the fairness of the electoral process and the ability of opposition forces to campaign under equal conditions.

The statement further warned that, given Pashinyan’s influence over law enforcement agencies and the judicial system, the May 18 remarks should be viewed seriously and interpreted as a warning of possible imminent political persecution.

Details and reasoning are available in the statement.

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