The open court hearing in the criminal case against citizens of the Republic of Armenia – Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Gukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, David Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan and others – who are accused of committing crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, including planning and waging an aggressive war, genocide, violation of the laws and customs of war, as well as terrorism, financing of terrorism, forcible seizure of power, its forcible retention and numerous other crimes, continued on October 13.
Azernews reports that at the hearing of the Baku Military Court, chaired by Judge Zeynal Agayev with judges Jamal Ramazanov and Anar Rzayev sitting (reserve judge Gunel Samedova), each of the defendants was provided with an interpreter in the language they understand as well as defense counsel.
Present at the hearing were the accused persons, their defenders, some of the injured parties, their legal heirs and representatives, as well as the prosecutors representing the state prosecution.
The hearing continued with the announcement of documents.
One of the documents states that while the self-styled entity existed, a weekly military program titled ‘Qoyamart’ (translated into Azerbaijani as ‘fight to live’) was aired in the media.
Episodes of that program were monitored and analyzed, and records were kept of the activities of senior officers serving there in terms of promoting the occupation of the sovereign territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and increasing the combat readiness of Armenian armed forces located in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories. One such officer is Major General David Manukyan, who holds a high military rank and is currently an accused. Based on the ‘Qoyamart’ military program episode broadcast on May 16, 2020, ‘exemplary exercises’ were held in the divisions of the largest armed formation of the Armenian armed forces in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories on the topics of ‘methods and forms of firing from small arms in defense battles’ and ‘usage of grenade launcher squads in defense battles.’ The exercises were led by the armed formation’s commander, Lieutenant General Jalal Arutyunyan, and his first deputy, Major General David Manukyan, who gave the ‘necessary instructions.’
One of the announced documents related to the creation and activities of the ‘Krunq’ organization.
Subsequent documents concerned the establishment and formation of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Armenia. It was reported that by the decision of the Government of Armenia dated January 28, 1992, the Special Defense Committee under the Council of Ministers was liquidated and all its property was transferred to the newly created Ministry of Defense. Vazgen Sargsyan was appointed Minister of Defense.
Thereafter, a number of classified documents belonging to the Armenian armed forces were announced. Photographs of each of those documents were also shown in court.
The documents prove that various military tasks were assigned to different structures of the Armenian armed forces, as well as to the self-styled entity’s ‘army’ (the largest armed formation of the Armenian armed forces – ed.), for execution in the territories of Azerbaijan that were formerly under occupation.
For example, from Secret Order No. 0119 – a combat task – dated 04.05.2016 of the Chief of the General Staff of the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia, Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, it is evident that the ‘commander of the army’ of the self-styled entity was ordered to arrange anti-tank ditches and the soil layers of ditch approaches in the ‘6th defense sector’ and use them as intermediate trenches and defensive lines; to obligatorily link and integrate the anti-tank ditches and approaches of the ‘9th defense sector’; and to camouflage the assets in combat formations.
At the hearing, a joint secret order – a combat task – No. 016 dated 24.12.2016, compiled in Yerevan by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian armed forces, Lieutenant General Movses Akopyan, and the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the armed forces, Colonel V. Sargsyan, was also disclosed and its photograph shown.
The secret document shows that to survey the area in the north-eastern direction of the self-styled entity’s ‘army’ and to select positions for radio-electronic reconnaissance (RER) units, from January 10-14, 2017, a working group of the 24th Special Purpose Separate Radio-Technical Regiment was to be organized to make a trip along the Yerevan-Khankendi-Agdere-Sukhovushan-Khankendi-Yerevan route; oversight for execution of that order was entrusted to the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armenian armed forces.
Also disclosed and displayed at the hearing was Secret Order No. 0261 dated 24.09.2019, compiled in Yerevan by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian armed forces, Lieutenant General A. Davtyan.
The document shows that the head of armaments of the Armenian armed forces was ordered to provide 46 sets of 120 mm M-75 (M-74) mortars replacement equipment with 20 sets of 82 mm M-69 and 26 sets of 82 mm BM-37 mortars to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th ‘defense sectors’ of the self-styled entity’s ‘army.’
The same document ordered the ‘army commander’ of the self-styled entity to take delivery of the specified weapons and ammunition and arrange their distribution to those ‘defense sectors,’ and to report on the completion of these tasks to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian armed forces within five days.
The secret Order No. 0671 dated 25.09.2020 of the ‘first deputy commander – chief of staff’ of the self-styled entity’s ‘army,’ Major General Kamo Vardanyan, titled ‘On the destruction by fire of the enemy’s populated areas,’ was also disclosed. The order shows that by September 28, 2020, the commanders of units and military formations in Khankendi were to target the populated areas attached to the order for fire engagement, calculate firing positions and include them in combat application documents, refine combat calculations, prepare one BM-21 system (YARS) unit for firing with 40 km-range G-2000 rockets in artillery units and keep 40 of the 80 rockets intended for it permanently in the combat vehicle’s transport-loading vehicle, with the remaining 40 to be loaded onto the combat vehicle before it is deployed in combat formation, and equip the BM-21 YARS with replacement devices.
The list of populated areas designated as fire-destruction targets attached to the order includes Azerbaijan’s cities of Mingachevir and Naftalan, and the districts of Tartar, Yevlakh, Beylagan, Aghjabadi and others, as well as a number of towns and villages.
Based on the announced documents, directives were also presented for the destruction by Armenian armed forces of civilian-populated localities in Azerbaijan that were not under occupation prior to the Patriotic War; precise coordinates of the populated localities to be destroyed and the types of rockets to be used were provided.
It was reported that the coordinates indicated in that document as targets were checked by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan and were confirmed to correspond to settlements of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The court proceedings will continue on October 16.
It should be noted that 15 accused persons are charged in the criminal case concerning numerous criminal acts committed in the course of the aggressive war carried out by the Armenian state, including through the direct leadership and participation of its state bodies and officials, its armed forces and illegal armed formations, the orders, instructions and directives given orally and in writing, the material, technical and personnel support provided, centralized management and tight control – and also involving Robert Kocharian Sedrak, Serzh Sargsyan Azat, Vazgen Manukyan Mikael, Vazgen Sargsyan Zaven, Samvel Babayan Andranik, Vitaly Balasanyan Mikael, Zori Balayan Haik, Seyran Ohanyan Musheghi, Arshavir Gharamyan Surenovich, Monte Melkonyan Charles and others – who were created in violation of domestic and international legal norms to carry out military aggression against Azerbaijan.
Those persons – Harutyunyan Arayik Vladimiri, Gukasyan Arkadi Arshaviri, Sahakyan Bako Sahaki, Ishkhanyan Davit Rubeni, Manukyan David Azatini, Babayan David Klimi, Mnatsakanyan Levon Henrikovich, Beglaryan Vasili Ivani, Ghazaryan Erik Roberti, Allahverdyan Davit Nelsoni, Stepanyan Gurgen Homeri, Balayan Levon Romiki, Babayan Madat Arakelovich, Martirosyan Garik Grigori, Pashayan Melikset Vladimiri – are charged under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan with Articles 100 (planning, preparation, initiation and waging of an aggressive war), 102 (attacks on persons or organizations enjoying international protection), 103 (genocide), 105 (extermination of the population), 106 (enslavement), 107 (deportation or forcible transfer of population), 109 (persecution), 110 (forcible disappearance of persons), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law), 113 (torture), 114 (mercenarism), 115 (violation of the laws and customs of war), 116 (violation of international humanitarian law norms during an armed conflict), 118 (military pillage), 120 (intentional homicide), 192 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing of terrorism), 218 (creation of a criminal organization), 228 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, carriage or carrying of weapons, their components, ammunition, explosive materials and devices), 270-1 (acts endangering aviation security), 277 (attempt on the life of a state or public figure), 278 (forcible seizure and retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional order of the state), 279 (creation of armed formations and groups not provided for by law), and other articles.