After the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan gained a positional advantage and began to control the fate of every Armenian. Attorney Siranush Sahakyan, president of the International and Comparative Law Center, stated this at a press conference Monday.

"If there was no element of that control, I am more than sure that it would not have been possible to hand over—through international investigations or in some other way—the leaders of Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] to Azerbaijan, for the purpose of taking revenge.

"As for Armenia, we have documented large-scale war crimes and crimes against humanity. What is more, their number increased dramatically after the forced deportations, when the entire [Armenian] population of Artsakh was displaced and is in Armenia.

"Although the Armenian side did not commit war crimes, Azerbaijan has [arrested] eight Armenian military, political figures who are accused of serious crimes, whereas the Armenian side, where the number of casualties reaches hundreds of thousands, does not have a single recorded case of at least an average Azerbaijani military figure stand before the court; be it in Armenia or in any other country. We have not been effective in this fight either; we have a defeat. This is the front where it is possible to change approaches, intensify efforts, and have real results in the near future," said Sahakyan.

To the question whether it will be possible to achieve the return of arrested Artsakh leaders from Azerbaijan, she responded: "There are many cases that, under the conditions of using them, a positive outcome in favor of Armenia will be guaranteed. But we must keep in mind that the execution of judgments also implies political processes. In the same case of Azerbaijan, we have a precedent, when the ECtHR recorded that the arrest and persecution were for political purposes, fabricated actions were attributed, and as a measure they demanded the immediate release of political prisoners. For some time, Azerbaijan refused to comply with the court order, later released [them] under political pressure. If we intensify international pressure, I consider this issue surmountable, we can have results."

Siranush Sahakyan, however, did not rule out the option of amnesty either. "This can be implemented as a result of political agreements," she added.

"What is more, whether the West or Russia are in favor of amnesties. Of course, they have different arguments, but in both blocs as well the release of people through amnesty is encouraged," the lawyer remarked.