On October 9, 2026, a plenary session dedicated to the topic “Rule of Law: Independence of the Judiciary, Right to a Fair Trial, and Democratic Law-Making” was held at the OSCE meeting in Warsaw.
During the session, certain representatives and revanchist circles from Armenia made groundless accusations against Azerbaijan, claiming that the judiciary in Azerbaijan is not independent and asserting that the ethnic Armenian detainees are political prisoners or prisoners of conscience.
In response to these biased statements, Dr. Ahmad Shahidov, Head of the Azerbaijan Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, took the floor and demonstrated a firm, fact-based stance. He noted that such views voiced against Azerbaijan from the OSCE platform over the past few days do not reflect reality and serve to politicize the issue.
Ahmad Shahidov particularly emphasized that individuals on trial in Azerbaijan, including Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, and others, are individuals who committed war crimes, crimes against peace and humanity against the Azerbaijani people and state during the 44-day war and the subsequent period. Presenting them as political prisoners or prisoners of conscience is completely unacceptable.
Citing his personal observations, the human rights defender pointed out that he directly attended the court hearings involving these individuals. He noted that the rights of the defendants were fully guaranteed, they were provided with professional defense lawyers and interpreters, maintained regular contact with their families via telephone and video calls, and, most importantly, the court proceedings were held completely open to the public.
