Pashinyan's call to fight for Armenia was ignored

Along with the stormy propaganda against Azerbaijan and accusations of involving mercenaries in the war against Armenian separatists, foreign media and politicians cannot cite a single confirming fact. Although, if there were mercenaries, for more than two weeks of heavy fighting in Karabakh, documents would have been found, captured or killed foreigners fighting for Azerbaijan. There are so many fakes on a topic that even foreign media have begun to expose the lies about "mercenaries in Azerbaijan". The CCBS European Center analyzes fake news about “mercenaries in Azerbaijan”, allegedly based on the stories of mercenaries. The material "The virtual life of Syrian ghost warriors in Karabakh" reveals such fakes in detail 

There are less and less people willing to fight for Armenians than we think

Armenian media and politicians do not hide, and openly boast of involving foreigners in the war. The Russian “Novaya Gazeta” and other foreign media publish articles in which citizens of France and other countries talk about how and why they arrived in Karabakh and are participating in hostilities against the Azerbaijani army. For such a publication, the author of an article in “Novaya Gazeta” was deprived of his Armenian accreditation.

The categorical prohibition of mercenaries is contained in the Third and the Fourth Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1929 and 1949. Since mercenaries is considered a grave crime all over the world and is prohibited by a number of international documents and national legislation, Armenians have resorted to a different definition - volunteers. In Armenian political propaganda, citizens of other states of Armenian nationality who are fighting on the side of the Armenian army against Azerbaijan are called volunteers. However, in the countries of America and Europe, the nationality of people is not a defining personality trait, and is not indicated on identity cards.

In Azerbaijan, it is mistakenly believed that there are many mercenaries/volunteers in the Armenian army. This is not true. On October 14, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on foreign Armenians to fight for Armenia, which the Azerbaijani army has plunged into a state of national disaster. This is the second official invitation to foreigners to fight for Armenia. Consequently, the quantity, and most importantly, the quality of the “material” arriving in Armenia is insufficient for its effective use in military operations. In addition, those who agreed to fight against Azerbaijan quickly become disillusioned. The State Security Service of Azerbaijan recorded a radio interception of a conversation between two mercenaries from the terrorist Kurdish Workers Party, talking they agreed that their decision to fight for the Armenians was wrong.

The reader of the "Caucasian Knot" under the nickname joy.stoltenberg answered Turan's questions,   told about the mood of Armenians in the Krasnodar Territory of Russia, where the reader permanently lives. Joy reports that the Armenians there do not want to fight for Armenia.

“The mood here in Russia is not high, Russia is blamed for everything, and no one is going to go to fight anywhere. Every day I take a taxi several times, the drivers are only Armenians. No open aggression against Azerbaijan has been heard. Again, Russia is to blame for playing everyone off. There is fear, but rather not to lose Karabakh, but rather that they themselves are not driven there to fight. The Armenians are actively collecting for the needs of the army, they say that the soldiers are hungry, there is nothing to eat, dress and shoes. Today one bearded man Samvel was driving, he spoke poor Russian, said that it was impossible to live in Armenia, and there was no work. He moved to Armavir (Krasnodar Territory) with his family, he works as a taxi driver, he is afraid that he will have to go to fight. He says that this is not a war, but a staging, they want to hide the real problems from the people, and maybe they sold the victory to Azerbaijan. He has relatives on the front lines, says that they have no food or clothing. Armavir Armenian community raised 10 million rubles. Then someone started a rumor to them that the money was not coming, and they decided to collect things, medicines, linen, canned food. The gathering is carried out on the territory of the Armenian Church, where you can also enroll in volunteers, but there are no volunteers. There are many so-called Baku Armenians here. There are skirmishes between them. Baku people blame Yerevan and local Armenians, and hate them. The Russians, at least majority quietly rejoice at the defeat of the Armenians because there are many Armenians here. The Russians are sick of the Armenians, and the Russians do not like the fact that the Armenians are trying to drag Russia into the war with Azerbaijan and Turkey,” said a Russian resident joy.stoltenberg.

Volunteers are criminals too

Volunteers/mercenaries have not become a decisive force in the Armenian army, since the Armenian Armed Forces are retreating from positions taken before September as “successfully” as after the appearance of foreign occupiers in the ranks. However, they are there. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry did not launch an active diplomatic struggle with the involvement of foreigners in the Armenian army. Efforts in this direction are needed. It is useful for Azerbaijani diplomats to know the peculiarities of national legislation regarding the participation of citizens of other countries in wars on the side of other states. Traditionally, the most active suppliers of volunteers for the war on the side of Armenia are two countries - Russia and France.

There is a Foreign Legion in France, in which foreigners serve. Nevertheless, the legislation of this country prohibits the participation of French citizens in the armies of other countries. In an interview for Gazeta.ru, French volunteer Guillaume Normand, who fights against Ukraine, answered the following question from a Russian journalist:

- Recently, volunteers from Spain who fought for the militia were arrested when they returned to their homeland for participating in hostilities in the Donbass. Are not you afraid that in France the same “warm welcome” might await you?

- I think that each of us, when we return home, will face these problems. By the way, I personally know these Spanish guys. Now we have to wait a bit and see how this story ends. In Western countries, there is a certain difference between detention, bringing charges against you and a court sentence. In most Western European countries, including France, police often try to intimidate a suspect. They rush in to him early in the morning armed to the teeth, wearing masks, put you on the floor in front of your family members like a terrorist. Then they interrogate you. If they do not find anything against you in a couple of days, they let you go. If these Spaniards are released in a week, then nothing terrible has happened. But if in the end the Spanish volunteers end up in prison, then this is a precedent, which means that it will be dangerous for me to return to France, - answered Guillaume.

https://www.gazeta.ru/social/2015/03/05/6436273.shtml

The topic of punishment of French volunteers for the war against Ukraine was also covered in Kommersant.ru:

“They admit that they have burned all the bridges behind them and will keep as far as possible from the French authorities and special services. As one of them said, "If things go wrong, we will find refuge in Russia." They add that if everything here ends in failure, we will go to the Middle East to defend Christians.

https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2557415

Punishment for fighting on the side of foreign armies in other states

In early 2013, Australia reported that more than 100 Australians had gone to Syria since 2011 with the aim of participating in hostilities on the side of various Islamist groups. Then the Australian authorities warned that citizens could face up to 20 years in prison for participating in the Syrian conflict, Kommersant informed.

 In April 2016, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus included articles punishing the disinterested participation of a citizen of Belarus (or stateless persons) on the territory of a foreign state in an armed formation of one of the warring parties, as well as participation in an armed conflict, hostilities without state authorization. For this, a restriction of freedom up to 5 years or imprisonment from two to 5 years is provided. The April amendments to the Criminal Code provide much more severe punishment for those guilty of training, recruiting, training or funding such volunteers - from five to 10 years in prison.

In December 2017, a citizen of Belarus Vitaly Kotlobay, who fought in the Cossack regiment of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), received two years of real imprisonment. In 2018, the court sentenced a citizen of Belarus to two years of real imprisonment for participating in battles on the side of the LPR.

UK law provides for imprisonment for citizens of this country who, without the consent of the British authorities, participate in hostilities overseas. In July 2017, an unemployed British citizen B. Stimpson was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison, who voluntarily went to Donetsk in 2015 and spent several months on the territory of this republic unrecognized by the UN. He did not participate in hostilities, but served in the rear unit of the armed forces of the "DPR", sometimes leaving for the front positions.

In Kazakhstan, the Article of the Criminal Code "Participation in an armed conflict on the territory of a foreign state" provides for up to 7 years in prison.

 In 2015, Kyrgyzstan added the Article 226-4 to the Criminal Code. The Article provides imprisonment from five to 8 years (in case of committing of this act by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized criminal group from eight to 12 years old) for participation "in armed conflicts or hostilities on the territory of a foreign state in the absence of signs of mercenaries."

In 2015, the Criminal Code of Latvia was supplemented with three articles. Article 77.1 provides for up to 10 years in prison for active participation “in an armed conflict outside the borders of the Republic of Latvia, which is directed against the territorial inviolability or political independence of the state”. According to Article 77.2, for providing financial or property assistance, “a party whose activities are directed against the territorial integrity or political independence of the state” is also sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Article 77.3 provides for up to 8 years' imprisonment for recruiting, training or sending a person “for unlawful participation in an armed conflict outside the borders of the Republic of Latvia”. In November 2015, lawsuits were filed against two Latvian citizens for participating in the war in Donbass.

In Russia, in 2014, a legal framework was created that makes it possible to attract people free participation in battles on the territory of another state. Namely, the wording of part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was changed, which sounds like this: “participation in an armed formation not provided for by federal law, as well as participation on the territory of a foreign state in an armed formation not provided for by the legislation of this state, for purposes contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation -  imprisonment for a term of five to ten years with restraint of liberty for a term of one to two years "(the punishment is stricter than for paid participation - mercenarism).

In 2014, Serbia introduced liability for a similar act - from six months to 6 years in prison for a single person, up to 8 years in prison for a member of an organized group.

Montenegro has introduced criminal liability for the participation of persons permanently residing on its territory in hostilities in other countries, etc.