Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Azerbaijan's Military Prosecutor's Office has adopted a decision to institute criminal proceedings against 39 perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide.

"There are not only Armenians, but also servicemen of the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops among these people," Military Prosecutor, Deputy Prosecutor, General Khanlar Veliyev said at an international conference dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide on February 24.

Veliyev added that the prosecutor's office had conducted a three-way investigation since 1988 in connection with the genocides, crimes and deportations committed by the Armenian Armed Forces against Azerbaijan.

"The first direction relates to crimes committed against the Azerbaijani nation in Khojaly, Meshali, Garadagli and other settlements. The second direction is for crimes committed by Armenians in vehicles, including in the subway and other places and the third direction is for crimes relating to captives and hostages," he said.

Veliyev noted that to date, 2,089 people guilty of committing these crimes have been identified.

On February 26, 1992, the town of Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces.

As many as 613 civilians including 106 women, 70 elderly, and 83 children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both their parents, and 130 children lost one parent.

Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. Civilians were shot at close range, scalped, and burned alive. Some had their eyes gouged out and others were beheaded.