Armenian war criminals accused of torturing Azerbaijani POWs stand trial – UPDATED

  09 June 2021    Read: 848
Armenian war criminals accused of torturing Azerbaijani POWs stand trial – UPDATED

The trial on the case of Armenian war criminals Mkrtchyan Ludwig Mkrtichovich and Khosrovyan Alyosha Aramaisovich, accused of torturing Azerbaijani citizens taken captive during the First Karabakh War and committing other crimes, was held on Wednesday, AzVision.az reports.

The trial presided over by Elbey Allahverdiyev, Judge of the Baku Military Court was attended by local and foreign journalists, as well as civil society representatives.

During the trial, the defendants' lawyers filed a petition, asking to allow the accused to sit near the lawyers. The petition was granted.

A prosecutor read out an indictment at the trial. 

The trial is scheduled to resume on June 16.

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On June 9, a trial kicked off on the criminal case of Armenian terrorists Mkrtchyan Ludwig Mkrtichovich and Khosrovyan Alyosha Aramaisovich, who tortured and murdered Azerbaijani citizens captured during the First Karabakh War.

A preliminary hearing is presided over by judge Elbay Allahverdiyev. 

The indictment will be announced in the process.

During the investigation by the Military Prosecutor's Office of the criminal case initiated under various articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan in connection with war crimes, crimes against peace and humanity and against Azerbaijanis in the de-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, committed by the Armed Forces of Armenia and armed formations of the separatist regime, facts of hostage-taking, torture and ill-treatment of them and other persons protected by international humanitarian law were noted.

As a result of the investigation, it was established that a citizen of Armenia Ludwig Mkrtichyan, born in 1969, by prior conspiracy participated in the activities of armed groups consisting of Armenians who arrived from Armenia, as well as living in the [Nagorno-Karabakh] region, tortured the hostage on July 12, 1991 a citizen of Azerbaijan and illegally detained him for about 17 days in the Ballyja forest, not far from the city of Khojaly.

In addition, he also acted as an interpreter during the interrogation by the Armenian special services of a civilian in Azerbaijan who was taken hostage by members of the Armenian armed formations on September 13, 1999 in the Tapgaragoyunlu village of the Goranboy districts, brought to Yerevan and illegally detained in one of the military units.

The investigation also established that Ludwig Mkrtichyan at various times beat and tortured 11 Azerbaijani citizens taken prisoner in the territory of Khojavand and Aghdara districts in Shusha prison and Yerevan, and also shot a serviceman of one of the military units of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan from a machine gun.

Ludwig Mkrtichyan was detained on October 20, 2020 in the territory of the Melikjanli village of the Fuzuli districts by the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.

As a result of the investigative actions, criminal acts of the citizen of Armenia Alyosha Khosrovyan, born in 1967, who, together with Ludwig Mkrtichyan, cruelly and inhumanely treated and tortured Azerbaijanis were also revealed.

The investigation established that Alyosha Khosrovyan tortured five Azerbaijanis in captivity.

Thus, Alyosha Khosrovyan subjected a serviceman of one of the military units of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, who was taken prisoner in April 1994, to cruel and inhuman treatment, and during the illegal detention of the latter in one of the houses in the village of Mysmyna (Aghbulag) of the Khojavand district, he forced him to heavy work on the construction of the house of the so-called Minister of Defense of the Nagorno-Karabakh region Samvel Babayan.

In addition, Alyosha Khosrovyan tortured soldiers of one of the military units of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, taken prisoner in 1993-1994, who were illegally detained in Shusha prison, systematically beat them, starved them, thereby causing them physical and mental suffering.

Alyosha Khosrovyan was detained by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan on October 3, 2020, during an attempt to carry out reconnaissance actions in the territory of Azerbaijan.

Ludwig Mkrtichyan and Alyosha Khosrovyan were charged under 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 the state border of Azerbaijan) and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and they were remanded in custody by court order.

The indictment in the case was approved on May 20, 2021, and the case was sent to the Baku Military Court for consideration.

Comprehensive measures are currently being taken to identify and prosecute other perpetrators.

The General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan said earlier that in accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, those guilty of war crimes and crimes against peace and humanity will be identified and brought to justice, regardless of the time of the crime.


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