Court In Baku Sentences Former Nagorno-Karabakh Leaders To Life Terms
- 5.02.2026, 15:07
They were charged with crimes "against peace and humanity" under 20 criminal articles.
A Baku military court has sentenced former president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Araik Harutyunyan to life imprisonment, Azertac reports.
Analogous sentences were given to former NKR Foreign Minister David Babayan, former parliament speaker David Ishkhanyan, former Defense Army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan and his deputy David Manukyan. Two other former NKR presidents Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were each given 20 years in prison. They could not be given life sentences due to their age - both are over 65.
All of them were detained in late 2023 after Azerbaijan's military operation in Karabakh, as a result of which the region came under Baku's control and the NKR was liquidated. The leaders of the unrecognized republic were accused of crimes "against peace and humanity" under 20 criminal articles, including waging a war of aggression, genocide, terrorism and forcible seizure of power. A total of 16 people have been put in the dock, including former NKR prime minister and billionaire Ruben Vardanyan, who renounced Russian citizenship. He also faces life imprisonment. None of the accused has pleaded guilty.
After Azerbaijan's military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, 2023, 100,000 Armenians living there left the region. The NKR, which existed since 1991, officially dissolved itself on January 1, 2024. In turn, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a declaration recognizing Azerbaijan's 86.6 thousand km² territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution equating the forced displacement of the Armenian population of Karabakh with ethnic cleansing. Another resolution from March 2025 called the Armenians held in Baku hostages and their trials a sham.