YEREVAN. – The European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) decision is expected on the cases of Armenian nationals Manvel Saribekyan, Gurgen Margaryan, Mamikon Khojoyan, and Artur Badalyan.

Ara Ghazaryan, an attorney and international law expert, stated about the aforementioned at a press conference on Thursday. 

To note, these four cases have been merged into one.

“Still a few years ago, it was hard to convince the Europeans of [Azerbaijan’s] racism and xenophobia [against Armenians],” the attorney said. “But then the events of April 2016 took place [when Azerbaijan launched a full-scale military attack on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)], and the Europeans began to become convinced.”

The court procedures for the abovementioned cases have been completed, and solely a ruling is expected.

“Even if a decision is made on one case, it’s an important precedent,” Ghazaryan added.

Armenian citizen Manvel Saribekyan died after Azerbaijani torture.

Armenian army officer Gurgen Margaryan was axed to death in his sleep in Budapest by Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov. Subsequently, the latter was extradited to Azerbaijan where he was declared a national hero.

Armenian national Mamikon Khojoyan died as a result of the injections he was administered at the Azerbaijani torture chamber.

And Armenian citizen Artur Badalyan spent about two years in Azerbaijani captivity. Azerbaijani authorities, however, refused to confirm his being in the country up until he was transferred back to his homeland.