Filmmaker and publicist Hovhannes Ishkhanyan has condemned the prosecution of opposition figure Edgar Ghazaryan, accusing the Armenian authorities of trampling on human rights.

Ghazaryan has been charged with defaming judges in connection with their professional activities under Article 490.2 of Armenia’s Criminal Code, which carries a potential prison sentence of two to five years.

Speaking to reporters outside a Yerevan court on Saturday, where a hearing was underway on the activist’s measure of restraint, Ishkhanyan called attention to the ongoing sham trials of Artsakh’s former military and political leaders in Azerbaijan.

“The Turkish-Azerbaijani-Armenian trio is putting democracy on trial before the world. In both Baku and Yerevan, democracy is being subjected to unlawful judicial proceedings, with the backing of countries that authored the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result, their courts have lost credibility and their judgments are no longer implemented,” Ishkhanyan stated.