A matter of national conscience: The sentencing in Baku

2026-02-07 - 15:16

As some readers may be aware, five of Artsakh’s political prisoners were sentenced to life imprisonment, and two were given 20 year terms on Feb. 5. They were found guilty on fabricated charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and terrorism. Life sentences were given to Arayik Harutyunyan, Davit Babayan, Davit Ishkhanyan, Davit Manukyan and Levon Mnatsakanyan, and 20-year sentences were given to Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan. Ruben Vardanyan is still awaiting sentencing. Aside from these political prisoners, there are still 11 hostages acknowledged by Baku, and many other unacknowledged individuals who are missing in action. Of these hostages, many receive lengthy sentences from 15-19 years imprisonment: Melikset Pashayan (19 years), Garik Martirosyan (18 years), Levon Balayan (16 years), Davit Allahverdyan (16 years), Gurgen Stepanyan (15 years), Erik Ghazaryan (15 years) and Vasili Beglaryan (15 years). Whatever your personal opinions on some of the political prisoners — we as Armenians should be able to agree on a few things. First and foremost, they should be brought back to Armenia. Any issues we have with any of the political prisoners should be addressed in Armenia, as Azerbaijan has no grounds for imprisoning any of them. Some of those individuals did nothing aside from stand by their people — but certainly none of them are guilty of the crimes they’ve been charged with. None of them deserve to endure sham trials and to endure captivity under Azerbaijan. To ensure justice for any of those individuals, we must seek justice for all of those individuals collectively. In other words, our personal feelings about certain individuals should not allow us as Armenians to forget about them and let them rot in an Azerbaijani jail — especially when there are individuals in the collective group who have done nothing other than exist as an Armenian. Their fate is intertwined. We, as Armenians, should not rest and should not be comfortable with allowing any Armenian to remain captive. We should think about the sacrifices some of those individuals made for our nation. We should think of their families and the torment they are going through. We should think of what every passing day looks like for those individuals in captivity. And on a humanitarian level, we should not leave any Armenian behind. We, myself included, have certainly not done enough for those individuals. Mostly because we, again myself included, don’t know what else to do. But I believe the Armenian government can certainly take steps. We can do more to ensure the Armenian government knows we are not indifferent; we want them to take action to bring the captives home. I started a petition almost one year ago, urging the government to take action. The steps that are outlined by Jared Genser, Ruben Vardanyan’s attorney, are still applicable today and are still feasible actions that the government can take to help bring home those who remain captive. I submitted over 750 in-person signatures, as well as the online signatures, on https://chng.it/Krfr68rdHk. I believe it’s an appropriate time — especially with the upcoming visit of the U.S. Vice President to Armenia — to remind the Armenian government to make this a priority and to show them that we are not indifferent. If you agree, and if you are so inclined, your signature and your support would be greatly appreciated.