The above-named are both ethnic Armenian citizens of the Republic of Georgia, arrested on 28 April 1992 at Baku airport in Azerbaydzhan when they arrived in transit to Tblisi in Georgia from the Russian Federation. They appear not to have been charged as of October 1991 and their lawyer has allegedly been told by Azerbaydzhani officials that the two were being held solely because of their ethnic origin, in the hope that they could be exchanged as hostages for ethnic Azerbaydzhanis held by Armenians in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. If these reports are confirmed, AI will regard the two men as prisoners of conscience, who should be released immediately and unconditionally.
