The following received life sentences:
- former president of the unrecognized republic Arayik Harutyunyan;
- former commander of the NKR army Levon Mnatsakanyan;
- former deputy army commander David Manukyan;
- former speaker of the NKR parliament David Ishkhanyan;
- former NKR Foreign Minister David Babayan.
The same court also passed sentences on other defendants in the case.
Former NKR presidents Arkady Ghukasyan (age 68) and Bako Sahakyan (65) were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ekho Moskvy explains that the local criminal code prohibits the imposition of life imprisonment on those over 65 years of age.
In total, 15 people appear in the case.
AZERTAC writes that Armenian citizens were accused of committing crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, including preparing and waging an aggressive war, genocide, violating the laws and customs of war, as well as terrorism, financing terrorism, forcible seizure of power, its forcible retention and other crimes.
The agency announced sentences for the other defendants: Melikset Pashayan – 19 years in prison, Garik Martirosyan – 18, David Allahverdyan – 16, Levon Balayan – 16, Vasily Beglaryan – 15, Gurgen Stepanyan – 15, Erik Kazaryan – 15, Madat Babayan – 19 years.
Context
In 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh, with the support of Armenia, declared independence from Azerbaijan. This led to hostilities that continued with varying intensity until the fall of 2020, until representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia (as a mediator) signed a statement to end the war.
On September 28, 2023, the “authorities” of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh announced the end of the “republic” from January 1, 2024.
The leaders of the NKR were arrested.
Armenian Ambassador to the European Union Tigran Balayan stated that the leaders of the NKR ended up in the hands of the Azerbaijani authorities with the “connivance” of Russian “peacekeepers”, and were also transferred to Baku directly from Russian military bases.
