Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office launches criminal case on burning of Azerbaijan's state flag in Armenia

A criminal case has been initiated regarding the burning of Azerbaijan's national flag in Armenia.

Report informs, citing the Prosecutor General's Office, that the Azerbaijani flag was torched during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship on April 14 in Yerevan, Armenia, as part of incitement national hatred and enmity.

"According to articles 12.2, 283.2.1 (inciting national hatred and enmity committed by force), 12.2, 283.2.2 (inciting national hatred and enmity by using the position of service position), and 12.2, 324 (insulting acts about the State flag), a criminal case has been launched in the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office on the basis of ethnic hatred and animosity against Azerbaijan in Armenia," the Office said in a statement.

According to it, requests will be filed to the appropriate foreign authorities, and collaboration with international organizations will be secured to bring Aram Nikolyan and others who perpetrated this criminal conduct intended to incite national hatred and enmity to domestic and international judicial responsibility. Detailed information about the progress and outcomes of the ongoing investigation will be provided to the public.

"The Republic of Azerbaijan reaffirms its adherence to the UN International Convention "On the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination," including the notion that all such acts should be punished, and it implores the international community to harshly condemn Armenia. It also calls on Armenia to ensure compliance with its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law," the statement reads.