“I welcome everyone.

Yesterday, a preliminary court hearing took place at the Baku Court of Appeals regarding our appeal of the February 5 verdict issued by the Baku Military Court. We appealed that ruling, and yesterday the process officially began, with the first hearing scheduled for June 2. You know — peace and trial… it is all very peculiar, especially considering that the verdict itself, after repeated delays and artificial obstacles, was only delivered to us on April 21.

And it should not surprise anyone when I say that to this day neither the defense side nor even the prosecution has received the full text of the verdict. They have only received excerpts.

Yesterday, I personally petitioned the court to provide both the defense attorneys and all defendants with the complete version of the verdict, as well as the full indictment. Surprisingly — though perhaps understandably — the court rejected my request.

From December 17, 2024 until now, throughout this entire two-year-long judicial process, the indictment has not been fully provided to the defense side.

At some point I will have the opportunity to speak in greater detail about the trial and the broader process surrounding it. For now, I will limit myself to saying this: anyone who reads the 15 sections of the indictment will fully understand what is happening here. The so-called ‘fair, open, and transparent trial’ is fiction. This is a fully controlled, censored retaliatory trial. Even the public presentation of it is manipulated through propaganda aimed both at Azerbaijani society and the international community.

Yesterday, I also submitted two additional motions. First, I requested that the hearings be broadcast online to ensure an open trial. I had proposed the same thing during the first-instance court proceedings, but it was rejected there as well. Yesterday it was rejected again.

My second request was that representatives of AzTV be barred from attending the hearings due to their misinformation and manipulative reporting. That request was also denied.

One of the defense attorneys here, unable to contain himself, openly stated during the hearing: ‘We will be ashamed before future generations for organizing such a trial.’ That alone is the proper assessment of this process.

Overall, I would describe this entire ordeal as a tragicomedy. Franz Kafka himself would have dreamed of attending such a trial — it would have inspired him to write either a new work or a second part to The Trial.

Another issue I want to address concerns my verbal appeal to the Human Rights Defender of Armenia. On May 6, I orally requested that the Human Rights Defender somehow obtain and transfer to my family the complete Armenian and Azerbaijani versions of our verdict.

I made the same request to the Azerbaijani Ombudsman, who met with us on May 5 and to whom I finally managed to hand over a letter I had written back on March 12. He promised he would try to ensure that the Azerbaijani-language version would reach my relatives. But so far there has been no response from either side.

Regarding the trial itself, I must say clearly: this is a delaying process coordinated with political developments.

There is something I believe the public should understand. Back in January and February of 2024, when we were already here, certain officials interacting with us hinted indirectly that we would remain here as long as Armenia’s authorities wanted us to remain here.

At first we could hardly believe such statements. How could our own authorities not want us to return home? But from today’s perspective, unfortunately, everything has become clear.

The developments surrounding this trial are being adjusted to political developments, including those taking place in Armenia itself. Recent developments have only reinforced this conviction.

I do not want to descend to the level of accusations and rhetoric currently being directed at Artsakh Armenians, but at some point the truth will become obvious to everyone — who bears responsibility and whose actions led to all of this.

In any case, we have now been here for nearly three years. During all this time, neither our principles, nor our reason, nor our spirit, nor our willpower have abandoned us. And they will not abandon us going forward.

Painful as this reality is, we will continue following the path we have collectively chosen.

I also want to use this opportunity to thank all the individuals, organizations, and institutions that have worked, issued statements, and adopted resolutions demanding our immediate release. All of these organizations and individuals understand that we are innocent and should return immediately to our families.

Finally, I want to congratulate our people on May 28 — the day marking the restoration of Armenian statehood — and wish our people strength of spirit, strength of will, and unity.

Stay strong. For now.”