A Baku court has completed its investigation into the case of Karabakh officials.

The trial of former Nagorno-Karabakh officials accused of war crimes has been completed in Baku.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, the Baku Military Court is hearing the criminal case against 15 former leaders and residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. They are charged under more than 20 articles, with 2,548 counts in the case. In July, victims spoke at the hearings, telling how they were captured by Armenian soldiers and tortured.

Karabakh: Chronicle of the 2020 war and its consequences

On October 31, a judge of the Baku Military Court announced the completion of the trial of the former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Prior to this, the presiding judge heard the opinions of the parties regarding the completion of the trial, and the parties stated that they had no objections. The parties are scheduled to begin their presentations at the next hearing, APA reports.

The defendants, their lawyers, some of the victims, their legal successors and representatives, and prosecutors participated in the hearing, Oxu.Az reported.

Defendant David Manukyan stated that he disagreed with some of the charges and requested that the charge of creating a criminal organization against him be dropped and that his criminal case be separated into separate proceedings. Manukyan's lawyer supported his client's motion.

For his part, the state prosecutor stated that this situation relates to the evidence assessment stage, which has not yet begun. The court denied the motion, finding it unfounded.

Madat Babayan's lawyer also filed a motion to exclude certain counts from the charges brought against her client. Babayan himself supported the petition.

However, the court dismissed the petition, stating that the circumstances outlined in it would be reviewed and assessed later, the publication states.

11:29 October 26, 2020

Paul Goble: Shelling of civilian cities has exacerbated the Karabakh conflict

Artillery and missile strikes on Azerbaijani cities are explained by the desire to provoke retaliatory measures from Baku, which would force Moscow to intervene and support Yerevan, but they have only strengthened Azerbaijan's readiness to recapture the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, former adviser to the US Secretary of State Paul Goble told the "Caucasian Knot."

As a reminder, both Armenian and Azerbaijani troops beheaded prisoners and mocked the corpses of their opponents during the 44-day war, experts stated after studying and verifying the authenticity of video recordings from Nagorno-Karabakh. International organizations should monitor the investigation of war crimes committed by all parties to the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani human rights activists interviewed by the Caucasian Knot said.

On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan conducted large-scale military operations in Karabakh. On September 20, 2023, an agreement was reached to cease hostilities and disarm the Karabakh Defense Army, and on January 1, 2024, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic ceased to exist in accordance with the decree of its last president Samvel Shahramanyan. By October 7, 2023, 100,632 internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh had arrived in Armenia. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report entitled "The Beginning and End of the Unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".