Armenian POW & Former Artsakh FM Appeals to Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court, Says 333-Page Court Record Was Withheld

Lawyers for former Artsakh Foreign Minister Davit Babayan and two other Armenian detainees have appealed their cases to Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court, as Babayan alleges that key portions of the appellate court record were withheld from the defense.

Babayan disclosed the appeal in a voice message sent from detention in Baku to his family. He said the defense received the Court of Appeal’s 47-volume case file electronically, but the documents did not carry official seals or signatures.

More significantly, Babayan said the defense was not given the final volume — 333 pages that he said should contain the legal reasoning behind the appellate court’s decision.

“The final, 47th volume of the Court of Appeal materials, which should have contained 333 pages explaining the reasoning behind the decision, was not provided at all,” Babayan said.

Despite not having that portion of the ruling, Babayan said his lawyer prepared a detailed cassation appeal documenting alleged violations of Azerbaijani law and international legal standards.

Babayan also accused the appellate court of largely reproducing the lower court’s decision while stripping out arguments raised by the defense. He said the new ruling was “99.9%” copied from the original judgment.

Among the material removed, according to Babayan, were references to official negotiations between former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and representatives of Artsakh. The defense had cited those contacts as part of its challenge to the prosecution’s case.

Babayan said another defense argument concerned allegations tied to events in 1988. He noted that he was a 10th-grade student that year and argued that he could not have been involved in a body responsible for military decisions.

“If the court of first instance simply lied, here they reviewed what we had said and removed the important counterarguments because they are unable to respond to them in any way,” Babayan said.

Babayan said he has little expectation that the Supreme Court will overturn the outcome. Still, he said completing the domestic appeals process is important for any future legal action and for preserving a record of the case.

“It is clear how this will end, but it is important to go through this formal stage once again for the sake of history and our future steps,” he said.

“This is not merely a trial against us, but a trial against the Armenian people, international law and God’s commandments,” Babayan added.

Babayan, who served as foreign minister of the former Republic of Artsakh, has been held in Azerbaijan since September 2023. He surrendered to Azerbaijani authorities days after Baku’s military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was followed by the flight of virtually the entire ethnic Armenian population from the region.

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