Protesters in Yerevan urge the authorities to push for release of Armenian prisoners held in Baku

Protesters in Yerevan rallied in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government building on Friday to demand from the authorities to push for the release of Armenian prisoners held in Baku, Armradio reports.

They also slammed the silence of the international community and called on the Foreign Ministry to convene a meeting of foreign diplomats accredited in Armenia to brief them on the situation.

The latest statement of Nagorno Karabakh’s former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan was read out during the rally. The latter has been on hunger strike for ten days now, and his health deteriorated during a court hearing on February 25.

Earlier today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement, noting that it continues to draw the attention of the international community to the issue of the release of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees held in Azerbaijan, as well as the mock trials being conducted against some of them with gross procedural violations and blatant signs of torture.

“It is obvious that the Azerbaijani authorities are using this judicial staging as a tool for political pressure on the Republic of Armenia and manipulation among society, taking into account the sensitivity of the issue for each family member and the entire society,” the Ministry stated.