Cross-shaped tattoos burned off the skin of Armenian prisoners, who are also forbidden to read the Bible: Siranush Sahakyan

Siranush Sahakyan, representative for Armenian prisoners at the ECHR, said at a press conference that cross-shaped tattoos have been burned off the skin of Armenian prisoners, who are also forbidden to read the Bible.

According to her, this is a targeted persecution of Christianity, and such a brutal removal of tattoos amounts to torture. According to Sahakyan, prisoners in Baku are given books, but the Bible is banned. Some prisoners are forcibly compelled to read the Quran.

Sahakyan stressed that all of this points to one thing: it is dangerous for Christians to be held in Azerbaijani prisons, and being Christian makes civilized dialogue with Baku more difficult.