The court process in Baku has concluded, resulting in severe penalties for a group of former high-ranking officials of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, detained in the autumn of 2023.
Among the convicted are former president Araik Arutyunyan, who led the region until September 2023, as well as former army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, his deputy David Manukyan, and former foreign minister David Babayan. All of them received life sentences, which was the demand of the prosecution, taking into account the seriousness of the charges.
Two other former leaders of the republic, Arkadi Ghukasian and Bako Saakyan, were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Although their charges could also have led to life imprisonment, the court considered their age—both are already 65 years old—as grounds for a lighter sentence. A total of 15 individuals are involved in this case, facing various charges including terrorism, genocide, illegal retention of power, and aggressive war.
It should be noted that the detention of the military-political elite of the region occurred after Azerbaijan's military operation in the autumn of 2023, during which full control over the territory was restored. As of January 1, 2024, Nagorno-Karabakh officially ceased to exist as an unrecognized republic, leading to a mass exodus of the Armenian population and the arrests of former leaders of the self-proclaimed entity.
