Baku, July 4, AZERTAC

On July 4, the open court proceedings continued in the case against citizens of the Republic of Armenia—Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, David Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, and others—charged with crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, including planning and waging aggressive war, genocide, violations of the laws and customs of war, as well as terrorism, financing terrorism, forcible seizure and retention of power, and numerous other offenses committed during Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan.

The hearing at the Baku Military Court, presided over by Judge Zeynal Aghayev, with Judges Jamal Ramazanov and Anar Rzayev (reserve Judge Gunel Samadova), ensured that each accused was provided with a translator in their preferred language and defense attorneys.

The session was attended by the accused, their defense counsel, several victims, their legal heirs and representatives, and prosecutors representing the state’s charges. Judge Zeynal Aghayev introduced the court panel, prosecutors, translators, and others to the victims participating for the first time and explained their rights and obligations under the law.

During the proceedings, victims who were taken hostage, injured, or otherwise harmed by Armenian military actions in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories provided testimony.

Bakhtiyar Mahammad oglu Guliyev testified that on March 31, 1993, while evacuating Kalbajar with family members and other civilians via an area known as the “Tunnel,” they came under fire from Armenian armed forces. His brother, Islam Guliyev, was killed, and most of the 21 people in their truck were massacred. Bakhtiyar was shot in the thigh. Armenian forces captured them, first taking them to Heyvali village in Aghdara and then to Khankendi, where they endured torture. “I was injured when taken hostage. They poured cold water on my wound to stop the bleeding. I was held for seven months in deplorable, unsanitary conditions and treated inhumanely,” he said. He was released and handed over to Azerbaijan on September 22, 1993. In response to questions from prosecutor Fuad Musayev, he confirmed that no safe corridor was provided for evacuation during Kalbajar’s occupation.

Nasiba Guliyeva testified that she was 13 years old during Kalbajar’s occupation on March 31, 1993. She said that Armenian forces opened fire on the truck in which she and her siblings were fleeing via the “Tunnel.” Most passengers were minors, and there was no military escort. “They fired so many bullets, it felt like hail,” she said. She sustained six bullet and shrapnel wounds, with visible scars to this day. Her three-year-old sister, taken to Vang village in Aghdara for alleged treatment, was later reported dead. Nasiba has had no news of her sister or her brothers Aygun, Yashar, and Mazahir Guliyev since. She noted that her brother Bakhtiyar, aged nine at the time, still suffers from health issues after being struck in the head by an Armenian soldier. In response to prosecutor Tarana Mammadova, she said they were held in Khankendi for three months and 15 days, then transferred to Yerevan before being released to Baku. “My parents are still alive and still waiting for their three missing children, believing they are being held by Armenians,” she added.

Tahmaz Shahverdiyev, a resident of Bashlibel village in Kalbajar, testified that he was taken hostage in an area called Atdarasi during the occupation. “There were seven of us; two were killed, and five were taken hostage.” In response to prosecutor Vusal Abdullayev, he said they were first taken to Kalbajar’s center, then to Armenia’s Basarkechar district, and later to Yerevan, where they were forced to work as laborers and subjected to regular torture. He said they were given just one piece of bread per day, occasionally two. He witnessed a fellow hostage being tortured to death. He was held captive for seven months and two days before being released.

Elbrus Amirov, from Aghdaban village in Kalbajar, testified that in April 1992, Armenian forces attacked their village using various weapons, killing 67 civilians, injuring many, and burning 14 people alive, including his grandparents, Bakir Gojayev and Zeynab Gojayeva. Livestock was confiscated, and survivors were taken hostage. In response to senior prosecutor assistant Vusal Aliyev, he confirmed the details of the attack.

Goshgar Guliyev, the driver of a truck carrying civilians, confirmed Nasiba Guliyeva’s account of the “Tunnel” incident on March 31, 1993. He was shot in the leg and taken hostage, first to Heyvali village in Aghdara, then to Khankendi, and later to Shusha prison on June 1. “In Shusha, beatings three times a day were routine, sometimes more,” he said. He was held for nearly eight months and released in late 1993. In response to a question from the victims’ lawyer, he said they were forced to work from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Farman Guliyev, from Guneshli village in Kalbajar, testified that during the March 31, 1993, “Tunnel” incident, their truck, carrying women, children, and the elderly, was fired upon despite being clearly civilian. He saw a burning KamAZ truck just 50 meters ahead. At the age of 16, he was wounded and forced to carry injured Azerbaijani hostages. His brother died in Heyvali village, and he was ordered to dig a shallow grave and bury him. He was held in Shusha prison, Khalifali and Malibayli villages, Khankendi Children’s Hospital, and the Armenian 4th Battalion’s base in Khankendi. He endured torture for three years and two months until his release on May 5, 1996. When accused David Manukyan asked about the torture, Farman showed a scar on his neck, saying, “Your people tried to cut my throat; the scar remains. They started but then changed their minds.”

Taryel Guliyev, also from Guneshli village, was 14 during the “Tunnel” tragedy. He testified that Armenian forces attacked with hundreds of soldiers, injuring his younger sister, a 4th-grade student, and taking his father, sister, and brother hostage. He endured torture during eight and a half months of captivity.

Yadigar Mamishov, from Guneshli village, was 11 during the March 31, 1993, “Tunnel” incident. His mother was shot four times, and his nine-year-old brother, Taleh Mamishov, was wounded and remains missing. Yadigar was separated from his family in the “Bulanig” area of Kalbajar, taken to Heyvali village, then to Khankendi, and tortured despite being a child. “They beat us, kicked us, hit my head against the wall. My nose is still broken, and I have scars on my head,” he said. He was released on September 15, 1994. When accused David Babayan asked about his brother, Yadigar said, “I have no news of him. I hope he’s alive. He asked for water in Bulanig, but your people wouldn’t let me give it to him.”

Aziz Goyushov, a legal heir, testified that his grandmother (his father’s mother) went missing during Kalbajar’s occupation, with no information about her to date.

Anar Aliyev, a participant in the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020, testified that he was wounded in Khojavend on November 9, 2020, and captured the following day. He was transferred to Yerevan on November 11, held in a hospital and then in a detention facility, where he was beaten and tortured. He was handed over to Azerbaijan on December 14, 2020.

Rabil Babayev, from Garadaghli village in Khojavend, testified that the village was besieged by Armenian forces in February 1992. On February 13, an attack killed civilians, with 10 people shot after being removed from a truck en route to Khankendi. The remaining passengers were fired upon, leaving about 20 survivors out of over 60. “In Khankendi, they kept us face-down in the snow. I was held for 47 days and beaten at least three times daily,” he said.

Nizami Ismayilov, from Guneshli village, said he fled with relatives in late March 1993 due to Kalbajar’s occupation, but his father, Ganboy Ismayilov, stayed behind and remains missing.

Nurbala Amirguliyev, a First Karabakh War veteran, testified that he was wounded in Aghdam, captured, and taken to Khankendi. “Injured, I was beaten for a day in a prison-like place. When they saw I was dying, they took me to a children’s hospital, where a military doctor named Stepanyan cut decayed parts of my wound without anesthesia,” he said. He still limps due to the injury, as confirmed in response to prosecutor Nasir Bayramov. He was held for two months, tortured, and later released in an exchange.

The court also announced the results of forensic medical examinations of the victims.

The trial is scheduled to continue on July 7.

Fifteen defendants of Armenian origin are accused in the criminal case concerning numerous crimes committed during the aggressive war waged by the Armenian state—including the aforementioned criminal association—on the territory of Azerbaijan, in violation of domestic and international legal norms. These crimes were committed for the purpose of military aggression against Azerbaijan and were carried out under the direct leadership and participation of the Armenian state, officials of its state institutions, its armed forces, and illegal armed formations, through their written and verbal orders, instructions, and guidelines; material, technical, and personnel support; centralized management; as well as under strict control and under the leadership and direct or indirect participation of Robert Sedraki Kocharyan, Serzh Azati Sargsyan, Vazgen Mikaeli Manukyan, Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan, Samvel Andraniki Babayan, Vitali Mikaeli Balasanyan, Zori Hayki Balayan, Seyran Musheghi Ohanyan, Arshavir Surenovich Garamyan, Monte Charles Melkonyan, and others.

The following individuals—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 being 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.