Deputy of the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Naira Zohrabyan posted the following on her Facebook page:

“The political groups of the Council of Europe discussed the issue of Armenian prisoners of war

The Spring Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has begun, and the political groups have started discussing the issue of Armenian prisoners of war. The Group of Reformists and Democrats of Europe also held a rather heated discussion on Armenian prisoners of war. I presented irrefutable facts regarding the number of Armenian prisoners of war approved by the Red Cross and the European Court of Human Rights, presented facts about the tortures of Armenian prisoners of war and talked about international law and the international conventions under which Azerbaijan is obliged to return the Armenian prisoners of war without preconditions. I also mentioned that Azerbaijan’s “reasoning” that those captured after November 10 are not prisoners of war is a shameful and obscene lie that violates international law, and I called on the Council of Europe to use all of its leverages for the release of Armenian prisoners of war.

The members of the Azerbaijani delegation obviously distorted all norms of international law and stressed again that those captured after November 10 are not prisoners of war and that there must be a legal and court procedure against them and, without any serious counterargument, started saying that their territories have been “seized” and “destroyed” over the past 30 years.

The main discussion on the issue of Armenian prisoners of war will take place tomorrow in the afternoon, and since most of the main political groups share the view that Azerbaijan must immediately fulfill the third Geneva Convention and release all Armenian prisoners of war, I am certain that the discussions will be fruitful.”