Baku, May 26, AZERTAC

The open court session continued on May 26 at the Baku Military Court in the criminal case against Armenian citizens Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, David Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, and others. They stand accused of crimes against peace and humanity, including war crimes, preparing and waging aggressive war, genocide, violations of the laws and customs of war, terrorism, financing terrorism, forcible seizure and retention of power, and other grave offenses arising from Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan.

Presided over by Judge Zeynal Aghayev, with Judges Jamal Ramazanov and Anar Rzayev (alternate judge Gunel Samadova), the court ensured that each defendant had legal representation and interpretation in their native language.

The session was attended by the accused, their lawyers, some victims and their legal successors and representatives, as well as state prosecutors.

Before the questioning, Judge Zeynal Aghayev introduced the court staff, interpreters, and explained the rights and obligations stipulated by law to the victims who were participating in the court proceedings for the first time.

The court announced that a new lawyer joined the defense team of accused Arkadi Ghukasyan, who also stated that he has no objections to the new lawyer.

The trial began with the interrogation of accused Madat Babayan. Responding to questions from State Prosecutor Tarana Mammadova, Babayan stated that he had served in an armed detachment in the village of Gozlukorpu, Aghdara district. Babayan admitted to being deployed to combat posts but denied his involvement in the occupation of villages in Aghdara.

Babayan once again confirmed in court that he had traveled from Aghdara to Khojaly in February 1992. When questioned by public prosecutor Fuad Musayev about the reason for his arrival in Khojaly, he replied, “I came for support, for help.”

He acknowledged the fact that he knew personally people like Valerik Petrosyan, Davit Grigoryan, and Albert Grigoryan, and confirmed that he had fought under Lambert Karapetyan’s command. Babayan also admitted that the group had been involved in the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians in the Kalbajar district.

Afterwards, the court reviewed a video footage in Armenian, with the assistance of an interpreter. The video depicted a "celebratory event" held on the 19th anniversary of the so-called “liberation” of Aghdara. Bako Sahakyan, then the leader of the separatist regime, attended along with Armenian officials and others. During the event, medals and gifts were awarded to former fighters who had been involved in the occupation of Aghdara.

In the footage, B.Sahakyan stated: “The fact that we are awarding former veteran fighters here means that we are awarding all former fighters. That is, everyone who participated—regardless of whether they currently serve in a section, platoon or detachment —is being honored.”

When Tugay Rahimli, Assistant to the Prosecutor General for Special Assignments, asked about the individual receiving a medal in the footage, Babayan denied it was him. “I don’t know him. And also that’s not me,” he claimed.

Defendant Bako Sahakyan confirmed that the event had taken place but neither confirmed nor denied awarding Babayan a medal. “I understand why you asked this question,” he said. “But I was not familiar with Madat Babayan at that time. I met him here.”

The court also heard testimony from another accused Melikset Pashayan. Answering questions from Nasir Bayramov, Head of the Department for the Protection of State Prosecution of the Prosecutor General's Office, Pashayan said he had served in the 31st Battalion of the so-called "Asgaran district." He stated that from 1993 to 1994, he was stationed near the villages of Suma, Sarijali, and Gulluja in the Aghdam district.

“It was a rifle battalion equipped with grenade launchers, mortars, machine guns, automatic weapons, and grenades,” Pashayan said.

When asked whether he had participated in looting after the occupation, he replied: “I did not participate in the looting. By the time my shift at the post ended, there was nothing left to loot anyway.”

Pashayan claimed that it was Armenian civilians, not soldiers, who carried out the looting. He said the military had warned civilians not to enter the area, telling them: “Don’t go there, you’ll get hit by bullets and shells.” He explained that these warnings were issued to protect civilians from physical harm.

Pashayan also noted that he had received the so-called regime’s “Medal for Courage” for his role in the First Karabakh War. “I don’t remember exactly when—either during Bako Sahakyan’s or Arayik Harutyunyan’s time,” he added.

Later, accused Garik Martirosyan, who served in the same battalion with M.Pashayan, was interrogated. Responding to questions from prosecutor Fuad Musayev, he stated that he had been involved in the war since 1993. "I was serving in the "Asgaran Defense District", my commander was Vitaly Balasanyan."

Noting that their battalion was stationed in Aghdam, the accused stated: “The battalion was initially stationed in the village of Aghbulag, Asgaran. After the seizure of Aghdam, the battalion was stationed in this district. The battalion commander was Vilen Safaryan, the platoon commander was Armen. I do not remember the company commander.”

The accused also underlined that a group of servicemen from the 31st battalion, in which he served, had been involved in the occupation of Aghdam. He objected his involvement in the occupation, saying: “We were deployed at the post to defend the captured territories.”

Garik Martirosyan also confirmed that he had been awarded: I was honored with the Medal “For Courage,” which was conferred upon either by order of Arkady Ghukasyan or Bako Sahakyan”.

Following a break in the trial, the examination of evidence continued, focusing on the chapter “Enforced disappearance of people, torture of prisoners and hostages”.

Vusal Aliyev, Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General, underscored that mass grave sites had been discovered in the liberated territories, with inspections carried out at these sites by investigative authorities. While the protocols of these inspections examined in the court, it was noted that during the excavations carried out after the liberation of the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, numerous mass graves containing human bones were found, with those areas being inspected by the investigative authorities.

It was underlined that some of the captives and hostages were deliberately killed by torture and inhuman treatment in the places of detention. Additionally, many of the captives and hostages were released through measures undertaken by Azerbaijan and international organizations, as well as in exchange for money given through personal initiatives and connections of their close relatives.

Afterwards, victim Zahid Hasanov testified under the aforementioned chapter, saying that “On March 7, 1994, he was wounded in the village of Ashaghi Seyidahmadli in the Fuzuli district and stayed there until March 8.” “On March 8, the Armenians entered that village and captured us - 4 injured. They tortured us both when we were wounded and taken away in a KamAZ truck, and when we were in the hospital.

They kept us in the children's hospital No. 3 in Khankendi, where our prisoners and hostages, including women and children, were also kept. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not care about us either. The committee representative named Mark, and his nurse was Veronika. While I stayed there for about a month and a half. During that time, Mark came there twice. He did not care for our wounds or do anything else. Then they took us to Shusha prison, but Mark did not come there at all,” Hasanov added.

He also mentioned that when he was detained in the hospital in Khankendi, secondary school students came to see him with their teachers and said: "They showed us to the children and said, 'Look, these are Turks, they are your enemies.' The children also spit at us and threw stones at us."

The victim stated that he was not treated while he was detained in Khankendi, adding during that time, he was brutally beaten and subjected to different types of tortures by Armenian soldiers and guards named Samvel, Vrezh, Borya, Karen, Armen, Serzhik, who had consumed alcohol and drugs. Gurbanov Ilham Salman oglu, Nazim, Panah Isgandarov, Shahbaz, Igor Aliyev, Khasay, Abdullayev Eldar Israyil oglu, Tarlan, Sevil, as well as Azerbaijani hostages whose names he did not recall, were also subjected to the same severe torture.

On April 28, 1994, Khasay, Panah Isgandarov, Igor Aliyev and Murshud Mastaliyev were taken to Shusha prison, where they were regularly beaten mercilessly with wooden batons, metal bars and other blunt instruments by Emin, Karen, Gor, Vren, Albert, Sergey, as well as Armenian guards whose names he did not know, kept them in cold cells without food or water, enforcing them to perform hard labor. At the same time, on May 1, 1994, Karen put him in a solitary cell, pouring a bucket of cold water over him and beating him with a wooden baton right up to loss of consciousness. On May 8, 1994, together with Azer Aslanov and Murshud Mastaliyev, he was taken to a detention center located in a three-story building in the city of Khankendi and was forced to perform hard labor every day in the 4th battalion, which was stationed near the military hospital in the city of Khankendi and commanded by Karen Babayan.

The victim underscored that while in captivity, he had seen one of the accused, Bako Sahakyan, in the battalion, and that the battalion commander met him.

Accused Bako Sahakyan noted that he had been in contact with prisoners and hostages since the end of 1992 and for the next 30 years due to his official duties, and said: "I have been in contact with those international organizations, the ICRC."

B. Sahakyan avoided responding to the follow-up question of the public prosecutor Vusal Abdullayev.

Victim Zaur Gulmammadov said that he had been shot in the stomach during the fighting on the Nargiztepe hill in the Khojavand district in February 1993. “I passed out from the trauma, and when I woke up, I found myself in a different place. Later, I learned that that place was the territory called “Tek chinar” in the Khojavand district. When I opened my eyes and wanted to ask my comrades, I was hit by a rifle butt. First, they took me to the “prison” in Khojavand, then to the hospital, where I went into surgery and the bullet was removed. They took me back to the “prison” and then to Girmizibazar. There, they beat me with the rifle butt. Three months later, on Andranik’s anniversary, they came and said that we were taking them to behead them. Then, an ICRC representative came, who was informed by the Armenians that there were no wounded or Azerbaijani soldiers here. They tried to deceive the ICRC and kill us,” he added.

Gulmammadov mentioned that after being held captive for 9 months, he was handed over to Azerbaijan during a prisoner exchange and said: “Currently, my left side is a prosthesis.”

In his testimony, Victim Askar Askarov stated that he was born in the Khinalig settlement of the Guba district and fought in the Kalbajar, Aghdara, and Lachin directions. He was captured by Armenian soldiers on April 2, 1993. According to the victim, he was tied to the back of an armored personnel carrier and driven around the center of the city of Kalbajar, brutally beaten, tied to a pole in the evenings, being subjected to other types of tortures.

Later, he was taken to the temporary detention center of the Basarkechar district internal affairs department of Armenia, along with young and old hostages, and held in one of the cells for a day. According to him, he was subjected to fierce beatings, kicks, and rubber batons in all the places where he was held. On January 15, 1995, he was released from the border area with the Gazakh district together with Bakhtiyar Taghiyev and handed over to the Azerbaijani side.

In his testimony, Victim Elchin Jafarov stated that in May 1993, he was called up for military service from the Narimanov district and began serving in a military unit stationed in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. He was captured by Armenian soldiers in June 1995. He was detained in the Garakils district for 4-5 hours, then taken to the city of Yerevan in a “Niva” car. He was taken to the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, and then to a temporary detention center. According to him, while he was being held there for 23 days, he was subjected to torture. He was then taken to the detention center of the State Security Committee of Armenia, where he was released in 1996.

During their detention in solitary confinement, he was subjected to different types of tortures, forced to perform hard labor, beaten with iron and other objects, and their body branded with heated pieces of iron.

The Armenians forced him to switch to their side, and once he objected, they were brutally beaten. The victim was released from captivity on May 10, 1996, and, together with 67 Azerbaijanis who were held captive in various places, was sent from Yerevan airport to Baku.

After the testimonies, the victims answered the questions of representatives of the victims, defense attorneys and the accused.

Forensic medical examination reports on the victims were also read out in court.

The next court hearing is scheduled for May 29.

The defendants — Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan, Arkadi Arshaviri Ghukasyan, Bako Sahaki Sahakyan, Davit Rubeni Ishkhanyan, David Azatini Manukyan, Davit Klimi Babayan, Levon Henrikovich Mnatsakanyan, Vasili Ivani Beglaryan, Erik Roberti Ghazaryan, Davit Nelsoni Allahverdiyan, Gurgen Homeri Stepanyan, Levon Romiki Balayan, Madat Arakelovich Babayan, Garik Grigori Martirosyan, and Melikset Vladimiri Pashayan — are charged under the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan: Article 100 (planning, preparing, initiating, and waging a war of aggression); Article 102 (attacking persons or organizations enjoying international protection); Article 103 (genocide); Article 105 (extermination of the population); Article 106 (enslavement); Article 107 (deportation or forced displacement of population); Article 109 (persecution); Article 110 (enforced disappearance of persons); Article 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law); Article 113 (torture); Article 114 (mercenary service); Article 115 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare); Article 116 (violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflict); Article 118 (military robbery); Article 120 (intentional murder); Article 192 (illegal entrepreneurship); Article 214 (terrorism); Article 214-1 (financing terrorism); Article 218 (creation of a criminal organization); Article 228 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, and possession of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and devices); Article 270-1 (acts threatening aviation security); Article 277 (assassination of a state official or public figure); Article 278 (forcible seizure and retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state); Article 279 (creation of armed groups not provided for by law); and other articles.