Following the ongoing trial in Baku’s military court against the former military-political leadership of Artsakh and other Armenian captives, prosecutors have demanded that the court sentence one former president of Artsakh, the former speaker of the National Assembly, and a former Foreign Minister, David Babayan, to life imprisonment. For the remaining Armenian captives have requested prison terms ranging from 16 to 19 years.
Grigori Ayvazyan, Chairman of the Assembly of Azerbaijan Armenians, expert on Azerbaijani affairs, and Candidate of Historical Sciences, is confident that the Baku court will satisfy the prosecutors’ demands, since the entire process was designed for that purpose.
“This is a staged performance organized by Aliyev’s dictatorial regime, whose goal is not only to prosecute those individuals, but the entire Armenian nation,” he said. “I have repeatedly stated that Aliyev will achieve the goal of extracting numerous compensations from Armenia—this has been discussed many times in Azerbaijan. They speak of ‘their territories being occupied,’ ‘their natural resources being exploited,’ and several other serious crimes.”
Ayvazyan added that he closely followed the entire proceedings. “They have carried out extensive work in Azerbaijan in this direction throughout the trial. During this whole period, by means of targeted pressure on our compatriots, they attempted to extract any testimony that would support the Azerbaijani narrative that ‘Armenia occupied Azerbaijani territories.’”
Ayvazyan urged vigilance and resistance. “We must be vigilant and resist this dangerous process,” he emphasized in his interview with 168.am.
According to the Expert, Azerbaijan Has Done Everything to Portray Artsakh as “Occupied,” Not Independent
According to expert Grigori Ayvazyan, Azerbaijan has done everything during the ongoing trial to conclude that Artsakh was “occupied” by Armenia, rather than having been an independent state that gained independence in accordance with all laws of the Soviet Union. He also said that under Azerbaijan’s criminal code, there is a certain age threshold at which applying life imprisonment is prohibited. Therefore, prosecutors know very well for whom they can request life sentences.
“Recently, Aliyev, during the ‘military parade’ he organized, again voiced threats against Armenia, and before that, he declared that ‘the entire territory of today’s Armenia belongs to Azerbaijan’. Azerbaijan does not hide its goals, which are deadly for Armenia. The sham trials in the courts of Baku are also a component of this, and unfortunately, it goes unnoticed here how dangerous these processes are for our statehood. Azerbaijan will also achieve that every person who served in Artsakh will become a ‘terrorist,’ and the large compensation demands that they will place against Armenia—if we cannot pay—will then be followed by orders to hand over Armenian territories,” added Grigori Ayvazyan.
He emphasized that a clear demand will follow these processes—the demand to open the “Zangezur corridor.”
“I am sure that the Baku court will satisfy the prosecutors’ request and will sentence the former presidents of Artsakh to life imprisonment. From the very beginning, this staging pursued that goal. It was no coincidence that people uninvolved in the matter were included in the process as if they were ‘victims.’ Certainly, this has nothing to do with law and international law. Does the legal system of a dictatorial country have the right to condemn innocent people? This belongs to the genre of absurdity.
Remember, in Baku, they are sentencing every Armenian who fought for the liberation of Artsakh. We must be vigilant and resist this dangerous process,” emphasized Grigori Ayvazyan.
Background
It should be recalled that after Azerbaijan launched a war against Artsakh on September 19, 2023, and under the threat of killing civilians, on September 27, Azerbaijani forces captured former high-ranking military–political leaders of Artsakh. On September 27, Azerbaijan captured former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan and former Deputy Commander of the Defense Army David Manukyan at the Hakari bridge. On September 28, former Foreign Minister David Babayan issued a statement noting that the Azerbaijani side had demanded his arrival in Baku for investigation.
Currently held captive in Baku are former Presidents of Artsakh Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan, former Defense Army Commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, and Speaker of Parliament David Ishkhanyan. All have been charged under various severe criminal articles.