BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7
By Samir Ali - Trend:
The trial over Armenian military criminals Ludwig Mkrtychyan and Alyosha Khosrovyan who tortured Azerbaijani captives and committed other heavy criminals during the first Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh war (in the 1990s) has continued at the Yasamal District Court in Baku on July 7, Trend reports.
At the trial, chaired by the judge of the Baku military court Elbey Allahverdiyev, the accused Mkrtychyan answering questions of the prosecutor said that he came to Karabakh voluntarily within an armed group.
“After the war, I left Armenia abroad. I also took part in the April 2016 battles [which resulted in the liberation of Jojuq Marjanly village of Azerbaijan’s Jabrayil district and several important strategic spots of the country, previously occupied by Armenian Armed Forces], and then I came to Armenia through the organization of which I’m a member,” he noted. “I participated in the hostilities on the side of Armenia in 1993, 2016 and 2020. I was awarded five medals for participation in the battles. We received a monthly payment for participation in the hostilities. I apologize to the Azerbaijani people. Forgive me.”
Answering the questions of the prosecutor, the accused Khosrovyan said that in 1993 he served on the border with Azerbaijan.
“I guarded the border. Although I was a civilian, I voluntarily joined the border guards. I didn’t take part in the hostilities as a volunteer but was forced to go to war to earn money because I had a small child. I consider myself guilty of violating the border of Azerbaijan. Out of need, I crossed the border at 53 years old. I ask everyone for forgiveness," he added.
Famil Aliyev, a former captive tortured by the militants said that the accused were lying. He noted that Mkrtychyan and Khosrovyan continued to be members of the Armenian armed formations after the end of the war, they tortured Azerbaijani prisoners.
"The Armenians suffered heavy losses in a battle, and their bodies were delivered to the Shusha prison. Mkrtychyan was also there. Then we were severely beaten. The wedding of an Armenian officer took place in Shusha, at which Mkrtychyan was present in military uniform. There they were ‘respected’ servicemen because they tortured Azerbaijanis," Aliyev reminded.
Another former captive Javid Huseyn said that when Armenian militants gouged his eye in Shusha prison on March 21, 1995, Mkrtychyan and Khosrovyan were there.
"When Garik [one of the militants] gouged out my eye, Mkrtychyan and Khosrovyan tied my hands to the wall. At that time they both tortured us in prison," added Huseyn.
After hearing the former captives’ evidence, the materials of the criminal case were assessed.
The next court session was appointed for July 14.
The facts of hostage-taking, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and other persons protected by international humanitarian law have been revealed during the investigation of the criminal case launched by Azerbaijan’s Military Prosecutor’s Office under various articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan in connection with war crimes against peace and humanity committed against Azerbaijanis in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by the armed forces of the Armenian separatist regime operating illegally in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and by the Armed Forces of Armenia.
As a result of the investigation, it was established that Mkrtychyan participated in the activities of armed groups consisting of Armenians who arrived from Armenia, as well as living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and also tortured an Azerbaijani citizen taken hostage on July 12, 1991, and illegally detained him about 17 days in the forest near the town of Khojaly.
Moreover, he also acted as an interpreter during the interrogation by the Armenian special services of a civilian resident of Azerbaijan who was taken hostage on September 13, 1999, in the Tapgaragoyunlu village of the Goranboy district, brought to Yerevan and illegally detained in one of the military units.
The investigation also established that Mkrtchyan at various times beat and tortured 11 captured Azerbaijani citizens in the territory of the Khojavand and Agderе districts, in the Shusha prison and in Yerevan, and also shot a serviceman of one of the military units.
Mkrtychyan was detained on October 20, 2020 in the territory of the Malikjanli village of the Fuzuli district by the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.
Investigative measures carried out also exposed the criminal acts by Alyosha Khosrovyan, a citizen of Armenia, born in 1967, who together with Mkrtichyan tortured Azerbaijanis.
It was revealed that Khosrovyan tortured five Azerbaijanis during their captivity and subjected them to cruel and inhumane treatment.
Thus, a former soldier of the military unit N of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan taken prisoner in April 1994, was exposed to cruel and inhumane treatment by Khosrovyan. During his illegal detention in one of the houses in Mysmina (Aghbulag) village, Khojavand district he was forced to do heavy construction work of a house for the so-called Minister of Defense of so-called ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’ Samvel Babayan.
Khosrovyan also demonstrated cruelty to soldiers of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, who were taken captives in 1993-1994 and illegally detained in the Shusha city prison. He tortured them by exposing them to regular beatings, starving, and inflicting mental anguish and physical pain.
Khosrovyan was detained by servicemen of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on October 3, 2020, while conducting reconnaissance operations in the territories of Azerbaijan.
Charges were brought against Mkrtychyan and Khosrovyan on Articles 113 (torture), 115.2 (violation of war laws and customs), 279.1 (creation of armed formations or groups not provided by law), 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of Azerbaijan) and other articles of the Criminal Code. By court decisions, arrest as a measure of restraint was chosen against them.
The indictment on the criminal case was approved on May 20, 2021, and sent to Baku Military Court for consideration.
