Baku, December 12, AZERTAC

Court proceedings in the criminal case against Armenian citizen Ruben Vardanyan, charged under multiple articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan related to crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, terrorism, financing of terrorism, and other grave offenses, continued on December 12.

The open court session at the Baku Military Court, chaired by Judge Zeynal Aghayev and composed of judges Anar Rzayev and Jamal Ramazanov (reserve judge: Gunel Samadova), provided the accused with a Russian-language interpreter and a state-appointed defense lawyer.

Presiding Judge Zeynal Aghayev introduced the panel of judges, the prosecutors representing the state, the interpreters, and other participants to the victims and their legal successors attending the proceedings for the first time. He also explained their rights and obligations under the law.

R. Vardanyan's lawyer, Emil Babishov, then submitted two motions.

In the first, the defense attorney requested that all witnesses who testified during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case and the testimonies of Kamo Hayrapetyan, Musheg Grigoryan, and other witnesses examined during the trial be considered unreliable evidence, removed from the list of evidence due to their lack of connection with the accused R. Vardanyan, and not used as evidence against the accused, as well as not taken into account when making the final court decision.

Regarding the second motion, E. Babishov noted that during the court investigation, numerous evidence forming the basis of the accusation were examined, hundreds of victims, as well as legal heirs of the victims, testified, statements of persons who could not participate in the process for certain reasons, other relevant documents were announced, and facts about the injuries suffered by many people were disclosed. The lawyer said that, nevertheless, according to the position of the person whose rights he is defending, the statements given by those persons have no connection with the accused.

Thus, the victims' testimonies revealed that the injuries they sustained occurred cover different dates. Some of these dates coincide with the period when the defendant in the case, R. Vardanyan, was not a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, that is, he was working in his own business as a citizen of the Russian Federation. Therefore, during the court investigation, the testimony given by the victims and their legal heirs was challenged on the grounds that they lacked any connection to the defendant in the case - R. Vardanyan.

The defendant stated that he supported these motions.

Commenting on the motions, Prosecutor Tarana Mammadova, noted that both motions are identical in nature. The accused, having joined a criminal organization established by the Armenian state and committed numerous crimes during the occupation of the sovereign territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as during the period of occupation, acted with a common criminal intent and purpose. Those who testified as victims are also accused of inflicting injuries and attempting to murder them during this period, as well as of murdering the victims, as stated in the testimonies of their legal heirs.

In her speech regarding the second motion, T. Mammadova emphasized that, according to the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the testimony of individuals knowledgeable about circumstances of major importance to the case is also considered witness testimony.

The prosecutor said that these are features that should be assessed in the deliberation room. "Therefore, we ask that the motions be left unconsidered at this stage," she added.

Following the deliberations, the presiding judge stated that since the specifics stated in both motions are circumstances that must be assessed when the final verdict is made, these motions are pending in court.

The hearing proceeded with the examination of other important documents related to the criminal case, based on the prosecution's motion.

The examined documents indicated that during a search of the radio receiving and broadcasting center located in the city of Khankendi, a dark green military vehicle with the registration number 03-11 31PB was discovered. The evidence confirmed that the vehicle was equipped with special radio equipment and the "Repellant-1" system was installed in the rear. The system was designed to blocking out signals of the control system of unmanned aerial vehicles from a distance of 30-35 kilometers. There were also a monitor, a control system, and a cooling system inside the car.

Additionally, during an inspection of 7 pieces of equipment in dark green packaging of various sizes stored in a military unit located in the Khojaly district, it was confirmed that the discovered equipment was the “Polya-21” radio jamming station, which was also used interfere with the GPS system of aircrafts.

Moreover, the letter dated September 27, 2021, sent by the Azerbaijan Airlines Closed Joint Stock Company to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the interference of satellite navigation signals in the airspace of Azerbaijan, states that since the beginning of July 2021, numerous complaints have been received from aircraft crews of various airlines operating in the country's airspace, indicating the unstable operation of global navigation satellite system) signals (GNSS, including cases of switching off and distortion of these signals.

During this period, at least 42 complaints were registered during flights on various air corridors, as well as during the established flight procedures for taking-off, arrival and landing at airports. The loss of stability of global satellite navigation in the Azerbaijani airspace poses a serious threat to the safety of aircraft flights.

The GNSS, a system designed for receiving signals, is the main means of controlling the flight trajectory of most of the aircrafts, with the absence or distortion of the satellite signal can lead to grave consequences.

Additionally, following the aerial reconnaissance, the locations (coordinates) of radio jamming devices belonging to the Armenian armed forces and the illegal Armenian armed detachments were discovered and photographed using the unmanned aerial vehicles.

Subsequently, accused Ruben Vardanyan requested the court to include several documents in the criminal case.

The defense attorney defended the motion filed by the accused.

The state prosecutors raised no objections.

The court decided that since the submitted document was in Russian, it should be translated into Azerbaijani and included in the criminal case materials.

Later, accused R. Vardanyan requested to review volumes 1-15 of the criminal case and that the witnesses mentioned in those volumes be invited to court regarding his detention.

Lawyer E. Babishov offered no objections to granting the motions.

Commenting on the motion, Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General Vusal Aliyev stated that he had no objection to the motion if it is related to obtaining any materials in the criminal case. As for the interrogation of witnesses, when the documents were examined, the accused has not yet commented on any of the documents, nor has he expressed an opinion on whether the discovered documents belong to him or not. He did not challenge the information presented in the protocol.

" Presently, no grounds have been established to deem the protocol's information controversial or suspicious. We believe that there is no contradiction, no dispute. Therefore, we ask that the motion not be granted," he further added.

Following the deliberations, the presiding judge mentioned that the defendant's motion to familiarize himself with the relevant volumes of the criminal case is granted, and the motion to summon witnesses to the court will be revised later.

Then, R. Vardanyan further requested to examine the relevant audio-video recordings.

The presiding judge of the court said that he would be provided with the opportunity to examine the necessary audio-video materials.

The next court session is scheduled for December 16.

Ruben Vardanyan faces multiple charges under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including Articles 100.1, 100.2 (planning, preparing, initiating, and waging a war of aggression), 107 (deportation and forced displacement of the population), 109 (persecution), 110 (forcible disappearance of persons), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law), 113 (torture), 114.1 (mercenary activity), 115.2 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare), 116.0.1, 116.0.2, 116.0.10, 116.0.11, 116.0.16, 116.0.18 (violations of international humanitarian law norms during an armed conflict), 120.2.1, 120.2.3, 120.2.4, 120.2.7, 120.2.11, 120.2.12 (intentional murder), 29.120.2.1, 29.120.2.3, 29.120.2.4, 29.120.2.7, 29.120.2.11, 29.120.2.12 (attempted intentional murder), 192.3.1 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214.2.1, 214.2.3, 214.2.4 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing of terrorism), 218.1, 218.2 (creation of a criminal group), 228.3 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, and possession of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and devices), 270-1.2, 270-1.4 (acts threatening aviation safety), 278.1 (forcible seizure or retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state), 279.1, 279.2, 279.3 (creation of armed formations not provided for by law), and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border).