Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: As of now, 33 confirmed and identified Armenian prisoners of war [(POWs)] are being held in Azerbaijan. Hasmik Samvelyan, the press secretary of Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the representative of Armenia on international legal affairs, presents this number in a conversation with Zhoghovurd daily.

The number presented by Samvelyan was also confirmed by Siranush Sahakyan, the Armenian prisoners of war’s representative at the ECtHR, human rights advocate, in a conversation with Zhoghovurd daily, noting, however, that in addition to the 33 prisoners of war who are confirmed and at the focus of the attention of the Red Cross, there are 80 unconfirmed but factually confirmed cases.

"Our fact-gathering was able to substantiate at least 80 additional cases of being captured [by Azerbaijan], and we do not rule out that there may be new cases of being captured; it's just that we were able to substantiate that much with our activities," she notes, adding, "Unfortunately, there were cases of about 40 people who, after being captured, were killed or shot to death. We have evidence to prove it. As for the above-mentioned 80 cases, the fate of the latter is unknown. They may be alive, but removed from the legal field and become forcibly disappeared or killed. But Azerbaijan neither confirms their being captured, nor returns [their] bodies not to confess the crimes committed."

Let's note that in recent times there have been no announcements about the [Armenian] detainees, and even more so about their possible return, and this is despite the fact that [Armenian] Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was announcing during the 2021 snap election campaign: "The detainees will forgive us if they stay in Baku prisons for 1-2 more months."

More than a year and a half has passed now since the announcement, but until this moment our compatriots continue to suffer and be tortured in Baku prisons. In total, it turns out [that] as of now, it is likely that about 120 [Armenian] prisoners of war may be held in Baku prisons.