Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: In exchange for the 32 prisoners of war returned to Armenia, the Armenian side handed over to Azerbaijan 2 terrorists: Huseyn Akhundov and Akshin Babirov, who were convicted of killing ZCMC [(Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine)] guardian Hayrapet Meliksetyan; this was presented as a manifestation of the goodwill of the governments of the two countries.

But until now they have not announced the exact legal act by which Akhundov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the RA court, and Babirov, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison, were released from prison and handed over to Azerbaijan.

In this regard, there are 3 legal ways. One is regulated by an international convention, according to which a life sentence, who is a citizen of another country, is handed over to the given country where he must continue to serve his sentence. Naturally, it is hard to believe that the RA government handed over those Azerbaijanis under such conditions.

The other way is to release them on parole according to the court's decision.

Third, the president rants pardon on the recommendation of the prime minister. This is perhaps the most likely option, as there would hardly have been court session in such a short period of time, and no one would have known about it.

We tried to find out from the Ministry of Justice by what legal act the Azerbaijanis serving the sentence in their subordinate penal institutions were released and sent to Azerbaijan. Were they granted pardon? They (…) answered our question: "We have nothing to add to the message issued by the office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia."