When thousands of complaints are filed against Azerbaijan, they will think twice before destroying property next time — Gegham Stepanyan

Speaking with Alpha News, Artsakh human rights defender Gegham Stepanyan touched upon international legal processes related to the alienation of property, apartments and houses in the occupied settlements of the Republic of Artsakh by Azerbaijani authorities.

“This is the next stage of a process launched several months ago. Three to four months ago we made a similar statement again, collected certain data. Several dozen applications have already been filed to the European Court regarding the destroyed property. We are talking about the destruction in Stepanakert, Karin Tak, Hadrut and other areas,” Gegham Stepanyan noted.

Unfortunately, he noted that international legal processes and court proceedings take considerable time.

“We need to understand that to achieve a certain result, we also need time. I am sure that we will succeed, particularly in cases involving destroyed or alienated property. Compensation will definitely be provided for destroyed property, but there are questions around the process of lost property, that is, the house is there, it is not destroyed, but it is inaccessible for use,” Gegham Stepanyan noted.

In his opinion, this process has a certain preventive purpose.

“For example, when thousands of complaints are filed against Azerbaijan in court, the next time before destroying property or committing acts of vandalism, they will think twice. These processes, to a certain extent, are aimed at preventing the policy of destroying property that has not yet been destroyed,” he added.