Two Armenians to stand trial in Baku court for war crimes
By Vafa Ismayilova
Two Armenian citizens, who have been arrested on charges of torturing Azerbaijani captives during the first Karabakh war in the early 1990s, will stand trial at the Baku Military Court on June 2, local news sources have reported.
A preparatory court hearing on the criminal case will be presided over by Baku Military Court judge Elbay Allahverdiyev.
The investigation conducted by the Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office established that Armenian citizen Ludwig Mkrtchyan tortured an Azerbaijani citizen, who was captivated on July 12, 1991, and illegally held the captive for about 17 days in Ballija forest near Khojali. Moreover, he tortured a civilian acting as an interpreter during the interrogation by the Armenian special services, who was captivated in Goranboy village's Tapgaragoyunlu village on September 13, 1999, later taken to Yerevan and illegally detained in a city military unit.
The investigation also established that Mkrtchyan at various times beat and tortured 11 Azerbaijani citizens captured in Khojavand and Aghdara regions, in Shusha prison and Yerevan city. He also shot a serviceman of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry military unit, using a machine gun.
Mkrtchyan was detained by Azerbaijani servicemen in Fuzuli region's Malikjanli village on October 20, 2020.
The investigation also revealed that Armenian citizen Alyosha Khosrovyan along with Mkrtchyan cruelly and inhumanely treated and tortured Azerbaijanis. The investigation established that Khosrovyan tortured 5 Azerbaijanis in captivity, and treated them cruelly and inhumanely.
Thus, Khosrovyan subjected an Azerbaijani serviceman, who was captured in April 1994, to cruel and inhumane treatment, and during the illegal detention forced the latter to hard work when self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh defence minister Samvel Babayan's house was being constructed in Khojavand region.
Moreover, he tortured Azerbaijani soldiers, who were taken prisoner in 1993-1994, and detained them in Shusha prison, systematically beating and keeping them hungry, thereby causing physical and mental suffering.
He was detained by Azerbaijani servicemen on October 3, 2020, during an attempt to conduct intelligence operations on the Azerbaijani territory.
The two were charged under Azerbaiaijani Criminal Code Articles 113 (torture), 115.2 (violation of the laws and customs of war), 279.1 (creation of armed formations or groups not provided for by law), 318.2 (illegal crossing of Azerbaijan's state border) and other articles, and were remanded in custody by a court ruling.
On May 20, 2021, the indictment in the case was approved and sent for consideration to the Baku Military Court. Currently, comprehensive measures are being taken to identify and prosecute other perpetrators.
The Prosecutor-General's Office stated that under President Ilham Aliyev's instructions those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity will be identified and brought to justice regardless of the time of the crime.
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