ArmInfo.  The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 44 to 7 on Wednesday, July 22, to call on Azerbaijan to immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian hostages, adopting an amendment to H.R. 9087, the House Foreign Service Act. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)-  backed amendment, led by Congressional Armenian Caucus Vice Chair  Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) with the support of Committee Chairman Brian  Mast (R-FL), builds on its favorable consideration by the Committee  on June 10.

ArmInfo.  A complaint has been filed with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the case of former Nagorno-Karabakh state minister and philanthropist Ruben  Vardanyan, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Azerbaijan.  This was stated in a statement by Siranush Sahakyan, attorney and  president of the Center for International and Comparative Law, who  represents Armenian prisoners at the ECHR. Her statement was  published on Vardanyan's official social media pages. Saakyan stated  that the complaint regarding the case of Ruben Vardanyan, a citizen  of the Republic of Armenia currently held in the Umbaki Penitentiary  Complex in Azerbaijan, was filed with the ECHR on July 19, 2026.

ArmInfo.EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian, alongside Armen Ishkhanyan—son of former Artsakh NA Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan who is currently held hostage in Baku—and Siranush Sahakyan, ECHR legal representative for the captives, ED of the ALC, and Director of ICLaw, held a productive meeting with Michel De Maegd, member of the Belgian Federal Parliament.  who has used his  tenure to advance many resolutions within the chamber supporting the  release of Armenian Hostages, condemning Azerbaijani aggression and  improving bilateral ties between Armenia and Belgium.

ArmInfo.The Yerevan Court of First Instance, presided over by Judge Karakekhyan, has ruled in favor of Karen Jalavyan ("Kyokh"), Commander of the "Yeghniker" military unit and Hero of Artsakh, in his defamation lawsuit against blogger Roman Baghdasaryan. 

ArmInfo.  Acting Speaker of the Artsakh National Assembly Gagik Baghunts expressed condolences over the death of former head of the Hadrut administration, statesman  Valery Gevorgyan.

ArmInfo.  Vardan Hakobyan, former conductor of the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts orchestra, and founder and artistic  director of the CADENZA soloists' ensemble, has put up for auction a  painting depicting the "We Are Our Mountains"  ("Grandmother-Grandfather") monument in Artsakh, removed from the  exhibition pavilion of the Yerevan Ter-Ghevondyan Music School.

ArmInfo.Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the opposition "With Honor"  faction, has harshly criticized the acting director of  the Anushavan Ter-Ghevondyan Music School in Yerevan for removing a painting from an exhibition pavilion.  The painting depicted the "We  Are Our Mountains" monument, commonly known as the "Grandmother and Grandfather" monument in Artsakh.

ArmInfo.  An Armenian court has acquitted Hayk Shamiryan, the mayor of Askeran in Artsakh. Lawyer Vahe Yeprikyan announced this on his Facebook page.

ArmInfo.The European Union is not exerting sufficient pressure on Azerbaijan to secure the release of Armenian captives, as stated by Armen Ishkhanyan, son of  the former Chairman of the National Assembly of Artsakh, David  Ishkhanyan, during a conference in Brussels titled " Armenian  Prisoners in Azerbaijan and the Imperative of European Union  Engagement".

ArmInfo.  When it comes to films with war/post-war themes, the stories of heroes are always familiar to a significant portion of Armenian viewers. After all, pride in  one's history, origins, culture, and science are integral elements of  national identity and mentality.

ArmInfo.On July 14, a conference "Armenian Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan and the Imperative of EU Engagement " is  taking place in Brussels, as  reported by the European Armenian  Federation for Justice and  Democracy (EAFJD).

ArmInfo.  Armenian prisoner of war Ludwig Mkrtchyan, held in Azerbaijani captivity since 2020, is fighting for his life amid deteriorating health. Luciana Minasyan, an  Argentine lawyer of Armenian descent and head of the Buenos Aires  branch of the organization SOAR, reported this on her Facebook page.

ArmInfo.  Employees of MultiTabak, owned by renowned businessman, philanthropist, and leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan, are holding a  protest demanding the reopening of the plant, which has been sealed  for eight days.

ArmInfo.  Key international players supported Artsakh's right to self-determination, but the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan effectively  rejected this approach and handed Artsakh over to Azerbaijan. This  was stated by Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the Armenian parliament  from the opposition "I Have the Honor" faction.

ArmInfo.  The Investigative Committee received instructions to "fabricate" a case against Mother Armenia party board member Aregnaz Manukyan and has carried out the order. This was stated in a statement by Mother Armenia party leader Andranik Tevanyan, who is incarcerated at the Yerevan-Kentron  Penitentiary, published on the party's Facebook page.

ArmInfo.  Azerbaijan seriously discussed not only suspending its activities in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe but also withdrawing from the Council of Europe altogether. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev  announced this at the opening of a global media forum in occupied  Shushi.

ArmInfo.During a Westminster Hall debate on the impact of conflicts on older people, Shadow Minister  Andrew Snowden MP raised the killings of elderly  Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh during the 2020 war, as reported by the Armenian National Committee of the United Kingdom.

ArmInfo.  The regime that has seized power in Armenia for eight years has been consistently destroying all the pillars of Armenian statehood. Both domestic and  foreign policy have been destroyed, state institutions have been  undermined, and law and justice have been devalued, says Artsakh  National Assembly MP Metaxe Hakobyan.

ArmInfo.The parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7 will remain in our modern history as elections held under unprecedented conditions of state terror, as noted in a statement issued by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation,  "Dashnaktsutyun" (ARF), received by ArmInfo.

ArmInfo.  Davit Ishkhanyan, the former Speaker of the Artsakh Parliament currently being held in  Baku prison, has issued another message from detention. In it, he  draws public attention to the fact that his defense attorneys have  still not been provided with the formal indictment, case summary, or  the verdict.