Banners for Armenian detainees raised on peaks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Banners supporting Armenian detainees held in Baku have been raised on the summits of Mount Ararat and Mount Aragats, according to the Facebook page Supporters of Ruben Vardanyan.

Public figure, repatriate, and Ruben Vardanyan supporter Georgy Kevorkov carried a banner reading "Free Ruben Vardanyan. Free all Armenian prisoners" to the two symbolic peaks of the Armenian Highlands — Mount Ararat and the summit of Mount Aragats, Armenia's highest point.

"Ararat and Aragats are symbols of the Armenian people. Raising a banner on these peaks calling for the release of all Armenian detainees is another reminder to the world that this issue should not disappear from the international agenda or from the demands of the Armenian people," Kevorkov said.

According to the organizers, the initiative aims to draw international attention to the fate of Armenian detainees who, they say, have been held unlawfully in Azerbaijan for several years.

A court in Baku sentenced Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison.

Former Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan was sentenced to life imprisonment. Former Defense Army Commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, former First Deputy Commander Davit Manukyan, former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Artsakh Davit Babayan, and former National Assembly Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan also received life sentences. Former Presidents of the Republic of Artsakh Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were each sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Madat Babayan and Melikset Pashayan were sentenced to 19 years in prison, Garik Martirosyan to 18 years, Davit Alahverdyan and Levon Balayan to 16 years, and Erik Ghazaryan, Gurgen Stepanyan, and Vasily Beglaryan to 15 years in prison.