“The real goal of Azerbaijan is not only to retake the territories, it lost as a result of defeat sustained in the war it started itself, to reinstate control over the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, but strange as it may seem, to seize also Armenia's regions of Syunik, Gegharkunik, the capital Yerevan, the entire Republic of Armenia,” former Director of Armenia’s national Security Service (NSS) Davit Shahnazaryan said in a statement. Shahnazaryan added that such aggressive anti-Armenian programs and goals have been officially and repeatedly voiced by the President of Azerbaijan and other high-ranking officials.
“The Republic of Azerbaijan uses various manipulations and lies in bilateral relations with various countries, as well as in the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the CIS, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States, other international platforms and local self-government bodies to press for adoption of resolutions, declarations, and formulas, denouncing Armenia and presenting it as an aggressor, an occupier, and a genocidal state,” said Shahnazaryan.
The former NSS director next cites Article 299 §1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia stating High treason – siding with the enemy, … or providing other assistance by a citizen of Armenia for carrying out hostile activities to the detriment of the sovereignty, territorial inviolability or external security of the Republic of Armenia is punishable by imprisonment for a term of ten to fifteen years with or without seizure of property.
“The statement made by Prime Minister N. Pashinyan ex officio at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on May 6, 2020, that Azerbaijan is 'constructive' is an open political and moral assistance to Azerbaijan's hostile activity against the territorial inviolability and external security of the Republic of Armenia, as well as international assistance to Azerbaijan's efforts to substantiate and promote its plans and goals across the international community for starting a new war,” Shahnazaryan said.
In his words, Prime Minister Pashinyan's statement prima facie constitutes a crime envisaged by Article 299 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia. This statement is a crime report to the Office of Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, which is obliged to immediately initiate inquiry, launch a criminal case in the manner prescribed by law, and to institute a criminal prosecution against Prime Minister Pashinyan under Article 299 of the Criminal Code – “High Treason”.