Will Armenia file lawsuit against Azerbaijan leader Aliyev under Rome Statute?

When the Armenian authorities ratified the Rome Statute, the main rationalization was that it would make it possible to bring to account those Azerbaijani criminals who have committed crimes against Armenian servicepersons. Has the Armenian government taken steps to bring these Azerbaijanis to account? Opposition MP Artur Khachatryan asked this question of Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan during Wednesday’s question-and-answer session with the government at the National Assembly of Armenia.

"For 2-3 months now, specialists in the Ministry of Justice, also together with our colleagues in the office of international legal affairs, have prepared a legislative package, the basis of which is compliance with international standards and the Criminal Procedure Code requirements which will bring us to the right arena of international criminal justice. It will give us the opportunity to use and apply the professional experience of international investigative bodies, to reveal the war crimes," Minasyan responded.

And to the question whether Armenia will file a lawsuit also against the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, under the Rome Statute, the justice minister responded as follows: "It is the ratification and implementation of such international agreements into the state system that forces both our and future [Armenian] governments to act in accordance with international principles. If the presence of guilt is found, then there will also be accountability within the scope of the [aforesaid Rome] convention."

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