Return of our prisoners cannot be considered Pashinyan’s diplomatic success – Menua Soghomonyan

Our four compatriots who were taken hostage were unlawfully held in Baku’s prisons and subjected to physical and psychological torture, Menua Soghomonyan, international affairs expert and member of the Hayakve association, said in an interview with Alpha News.

“These individuals were not participants in military operations. They were civilians, taken hostage by the Azerbaijani authorities. One of them, Vagif Khachatryan, was abducted from a Red Cross vehicle. In other words, what happened to these people constitutes an international criminal offense. They were unlawfully detained in Baku’s prisons and subjected to physical and psychological torture,” Soghomonyan said.

According to him, their release was not the result of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s goodwill, but rather an exchange for Syrian mercenary killers and terrorists, whose activities qualify as crimes under the statutes of the International Criminal Court.

“This event, as such, cannot be considered a diplomatic success for Nikol Pashinyan, because what took place was not the release of prisoners, as we say, but the exchange of Armenian hostages for Syrian mercenary terrorist killers captured by Armenian forces during the 44-day war. This is what we must understand,” Soghomonyan said.

Nikol Pashinyan announced the return of the prisoners the previous day.

“Gevorg Sujyan, Davit Davtyan, Vicken Euljekjian, and Vagif Khachatryan were just handed over by representatives of the relevant bodies of the Republic of Azerbaijan to representatives of the relevant bodies of the Republic of Armenia at the Hakari Bridge, and are now on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.”