Prosecutor General of Armenia Anna Vardapetyan, who, upon assuming office, had sworn to protect the rights and freedoms of persons from criminal encroachments, has not taken any visible action to protect the rights and freedoms of Armenians being tortured in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan,  after the Armenian exodus from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the capture of its military and political leadership. This becomes clear from the analysis of the responses received from the Prosecutor General's Office to Armenian News-NEWS.am's written inquiries.

Still last month, Armenian News-NEWS.am, had sent a written request to Anna Vardapetyan to find out whether the Russian side or another intermediary country had proposed holding a new meeting between the prosecutors general of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan, or between the prosecutors general of Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2024 and 2025, or whether Armenia's prosecutor general had approached her Russian counterpart with a proposal to initiate such a meeting..

Also, we had asked whether Armenia’s prosecutor general has addressed her Azerbaijani counterpart on the matter of Armenians being held captive held in Baku, or whether she has considered the possibility of obtaining the assistance of her Russian counterpart in discussing the matter of protecting the rights and interests of the Armenians being held in Azerbaijan, or their return.

The Prosecutor’s General’s Office of Armenia, in its response referred to the meeting of the prosecutors general of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan on June 17, 2023, where, naturally, there could be no talk about possible events in the future (2024-2025). Taking into account this incomplete and indirect response to its specific questions, Armenian News-NEWS.am had addressed the prosecutor general of Armenia a second time.

This time, making the scope of the questions more specific, we had asked whether Armenia’s prosecutor general has so far addressed any international organization—including a partner—on the matter of Armenians being held in Azerbaijan—and for the purpose of protecting their interests, monitoring their ongoing “trial,” as well as examining public statements and other factual data regarding the facts of torture of these persons.

And in response to this repeated request, the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia stated the following: "We have already clarified that all the information subject to publication regarding the trilateral meeting you noted is available on the RA [i.e. Republic of Armenia] Prosecutor's Office website."