CANBERRA: In a letter addressed to the Foreign Minister of Australia, Senator The Hon. Penny Wong last month, the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) has called upon the Australian Government to take a more vocal stance against the illegal show trials held in Azerbaijan against former leaders of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and to call for their immediate release.
The letter, which was also addressed to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), addressed the concerns raised by political prisoner Mr Ruben Vardanyan’s lawyer Mr Jared Genser, which included ill-treatment and torture of Armenian hostages and preventing the Armenian hostages from receiving visits or communicating with their legal representatives.
The Armenian National Committee of Australia has called on the Australian Government “to take a principled and vocal stance similar to that of Canada” and urged the Foreign Minister to “write to the Azerbaijani chargé d'affaires in Canberra calling for the unconditional release of all Armenian hostages”.
The letter emphasised the strong public support presented by Australia’s allies, specifically the Foreign Minister of Canada, The Honourable Mélanie Joly who not only called for the unconditional release of all Armenian hostages but also demanded Azerbaijan respect Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity; allow the safe return of Armenian civilians to their ancestral lands; the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage, and the resolution of the Artsakh issue through the OSCE Minsk process.
In addition, the peak public affairs body of the Armenian-Australian community reiterated the calls made by prominent Australians, specifically former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans who penned a letter calling for the release of the hostages and urging the Australian government to take a stance on the issue.
Read more here.The ANC-AU then penned a second, follow-up letter on the 20th March 2025 with updated details regarding the situation in Azerbaijan to Foreign Minister Wong. The letter noted the most troubling new development, that Azerbaijan has forcibly shut down International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) offices and expelled their workers, alongside telling other UN agencies, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to leave the country.
The letter stressed that with the ICRC’s expulsion, there is now a serious concern for the safety of the twenty-three Armenian hostages, as independent non-partisan monitoring of their conditions has been severely compromised by the expulsion.The letter then again urged Australia to join the international community in condemning Azerbaijan’s actions and calling for the immediate release of all Armenian hostages. It also commended statements made by international leaders, such as the U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, who recently publicly urged Azerbaijan to release the Armenian hostages to encourage a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Armenian National Committee of Australia is yet to receive an official response from the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister or Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
In regards to the arrest of the eight Armenian political leaders, ANC-AU Executive Director Michael Kolokossian said, “This is an extremely time-sensitive issue and with each passing day of silence from the wider international community, including Australia, the Azerbaijani regime will only be more emboldened to continue this miscarriage of justice.”
“We plan to remain in regular contact with the Australian government on this issue and will continue to provide regular updates until Australia finally joins the rest of the democratic world in calling out these farcical trials and urging the immediate release of all 23 Armenian political prisoners,” Kolokossian added.
