Artsakh leaders in a Baku court during their sham trial

An attorney representing Armenian captives being held in Baku at the European Court of Human Rights said on Friday that “HayPost,” Armenia’s national postal service, has refused to process letters from relatives to the prisoners being held in Baku.

Speaking at conference entitled “Freedom, Justice and Reintegration,” Siranush Sahakyan, who recently visited Los Angeles, stressed that assurances made by government officials that relatives can send letters to Azerbaijan via “HayPost” conflicted with the actual reality on the ground.

“The government indicated that letters could be sent directly to Azerbaijan via ‘HayPost.’ I should note that we have attempted this many times over the years—and continue to do so—and we have evidence that ‘HayPost’ refuses to process any correspondence involving communication from Armenia to Azerbaijan,” Sahakyan said, adding that this is yet another instance where the authorities are providing conflicting statements to the public in regards to the Armenian prisoners.

She recalled that Veronica Zonabend, the wife of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, who is one of the captives serving a 20-year sentence, had launched an initiative encouraging relatives to write letters to their captive relatives. These letters were then collected and forwarded to the Government of Armenia, with the aim of having them delivered, through official channels, to the captives in Baku.

Sahakyan argued that this was part of larger issue of depriving the Armenian captives from having contact with the outside world, adding that Zonabend’s initiative intended to curtail that situation.

However, it has become evident that Armenia’s postal service is not processing this correspondence, further complicating the state of isolation of the captives.

During her presentation, Sahakyan also said that the captives were also being denied effective legal representation, citing Vardanyan’s case as an example.

“Once again, we are seeing ‘innovative’ approaches. On several recent occasions, Ruben Vardanyan’s Azerbaijani public defender has been denied access. In effect, even the lawyers appointed by the Azerbaijani state—and funded by it—are unable to gain access or provide any form of legal assistance within the framework of domestic legal procedures,” Sahakyan pointed out.

She added that Vardanyan has not appealed the court ruling, thus, under Azerbaijani law, the decision is final and has entered into legal force.

“An appeal has been filed with the Supreme Court regarding the ‘case of the 15.’ However, at the time of the filing, the public defenders once again did not have access to the judicial act issued by the appellate instance,” Sahakyan explained.

“We have been in communication with the public defenders and have received written confirmation that the appeals were filed in a generic manner—based on mere assumptions—because the Azerbaijani authorities failed to provide the judicial acts to the appointed public defenders,” she explained.

“It is clear that an effective appeal cannot be pursued without the verdict; yet, being deprived of any opportunity to obtain it, the appeal filed was merely a formality. We have no expectations whatsoever,” she emphasized.

Sahakyan also pointed out that it has been a year since any representative from an international organization has met with the Armenian captives held in Azerbaijani prisons.

She explained that information regarding the captives comes exclusively from Azerbaijani sources.

It remains unclear whether the Armenian government is making sufficient efforts to facilitate consular visits—or to ensure that representatives from third countries can visit them in Baku, she highlighted.

“We are hearing that the Republic of Armenia has confirmed that it has reached out to third-party states, yet it not clearly articulating whether these third-party states have provided their consent,” Sahakyan said.

”It seems we are shifting the focus from Azerbaijan’s responsibility to that of third countries, and we are forced to accept the painful reality that, across the entire globe, not a single nation has been found—one that possesses a humanitarian conscience and maintains a relationship with the Republic of Armenia strong enough to undertake the vital humanitarian mission of visiting Armenian citizens on Armenia’s behalf,” emphasized Sahakyan.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan—without naming any specific countries—stated that the Armenian side had reached out but did not receive a positive response.

For Sahakyan, however, there are still many unanswered question. She said it was unclear which countries were approached, or whether it was a single country or several countries?

“At the very least, all this raises doubts as to whether the steps taken have been effective. For instance, thanks to the efforts of civil society organizations, Switzerland confirmed last year that it was prepared to carry out this mission. Has Armenia reached out to Switzerland?” Sahakyan wondered.