Armenian General Imprisoned in Baku Confronts Pashinyan Through Audio Message Played in Parliament

An audio message from Gen. Davit Manukyan, who is imprisoned in Baku, was played for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the floor of Armenia’s parliament Monday, bringing the words of an Armenian detainee directly into a debate over the government’s 2026-2031 program.

In the recording, Manukyan challenged Pashinyan to publicly address charges brought against him in Azerbaijan over the 2020 war and asked Armenia’s government to clarify its position on the status of Armenians held in Baku.

Strong Armenia lawmaker Suzanna Avetisyan played the recording during a question-and-answer session with Pashinyan in the National Assembly.

Manukyan focused on charges under Articles 100.1 and 100.2 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, which he said accuse the Armenian side of planning, preparing and waging an “aggressive war” in September 2020. He rejected the allegations as false.

Turning directly to Pashinyan’s role during the war, Manukyan argued that the prime minister should state publicly whether he accepts or rejects those accusations.

“Since you were the prime minister of the Republic of Armenia at the time and simultaneously the commander-in-chief, and since the planning of a war begins precisely at that level, I urge you to publicly state your position specifically regarding these charges,” Manukyan said.

Pashinyan did not address the substance of the charges. Instead, he said he did not know the circumstances under which Manukyan’s message had been recorded or transmitted from Azerbaijan.

“Since Mr. Manukyan is being held in captivity, and I do not know under what conditions or how this question was conveyed, our task is not to answer a question sent by Mr. Manukyan from Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan said.

He said his government’s priority was securing the return of Manukyan and other Armenians held in Azerbaijan.

“My task, and our task, is to do everything possible so that Mr. Manukyan and our other compatriots return to Armenia,” Pashinyan said. “And that we meet face to face and answer the questions they raise directly, rather than through intermediaries.”

Avetisyan then played the next portion of Manukyan’s message.

“If you do not respond, it will mean that you agree with the false charges that have been brought forward, making not only yourself but the entire Armenian people complicit,” Manukyan said.

Pashinyan did not respond to that part of the recording.

Manukyan also used the message to press Yerevan for a clear statement on the status of Armenians imprisoned in Azerbaijan.

“I expect to hear from you the official position of the Republic of Armenia regarding the status of those being held here,” he said. “It is painful that those here do not feel the presence of the Republic of Armenia, but this is, unfortunately, the reality.”

Pashinyan, meanwhile, questioned the decision to bring a message originating from Azerbaijan into the Armenian parliament.

“Does it not concern you that certain narratives are coming from Azerbaijan and appearing in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia?” he asked.

The prime minister said he would rather answer the detainees’ questions face to face after they return to Armenia.

“We are pursuing that objective,” Pashinyan said, “not entering into a long-distance question-and-answer exchange with them.”

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