BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 2. Vagif Khachatryan and his gang brutally killed 150 Azerbaijani captives, a witness of the Meshali massacre, Azay Karimov told Trend.
According to him, the situation in Meshali and Malibayli villages became dramatic in the 1990s.
"We were dispatched by helicopter to Tugh hamlet in the Fuzuli area while I was the head of staff of a special forces unit for post-patrol service in the Shusha district. Back then, the circumstances in Meshali and Malibayli were really terrible, the witness said. "The Armenians had numerous weapons. We learned of their occupation of the Meshali village from Tugh. We arrived in Meshali eight hours after the village had been attacked by Armenians. The village was already being pillaged by Armenians who were taking crops", he said.
"We eliminated eight Meshali assailants, all of them came from the Ballija village, which was two to three kilometers away. Khojaly, Malibayli, and Garadaghly villages in Karabakh, as well as Meshali village, were encircled by Armenian-populated villages, he said. "We had to travel through Ballija village to get from Meshali to Aghdam. We were aware that a squad of 10 to 15 cops was on duty in Meshali, but a tiny squad was limited in what it could accomplish, so we were aware of the challenging circumstances there. When we arrived in Meshali, the Armenians had already begun to plunder the community, stealing food and clothing. They shot and killed four persons in the upper section of the village.
"They shot around two mags into these people's backs. They shot cats and dogs in addition to cutting off someone's ears and head in one instance. One dog's head was severed and left in front of the house. The cattle within the barn were also set on fire by the perpetrators. Karimov added that the burning's odor was intolerable."
He also discussed the time he discovered Khachatryan was being held at the Lachin checkpoint.
"As soon as I read the news about Khachatryan's detention at the Lachin checkpoint, I immediately took my laptop and went to see my father. My father is 90 years old, and for almost 48 years, he worked as the chairman of an economic entity in Malibayli village. I showed him a photo of Khachatryan and asked if he knew this person," Karimov noted. "My father said that Vagif worked as a driver at a transport company and was a staunch Dashnak [supporter of radical Armenian nationalism]. I told my father that Khachatryan was arrested at the Lachin checkpoint. Nearly half of those who committed the Khojaly genocide were fellow villagers of Vagif."
"After the occupation of Khojaly in February 1992, Armenian residents of Ballija village hanged 150 captured Azerbaijanis on April 24 of the same year. The Armenians from Ballija village must be brought to justice for their crimes. In the highland area above Ballija village, they hanged 150 Azerbaijanis who were captured during Karabakh's occupation," he said. "I witnessed the atrocities committed by Armenians. I was 300 meters away from that place, standing in the snow for eight hours, but nothing could be done. I have seen many atrocities, but what Khachatryan did cannot even be described," Karimov added.
The investigation of a criminal case initiated by the Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office on relevant articles of the Criminal Code on massacre and deportation of persons of Azerbaijani nationality and destruction and harm of public and private properties resulting in large-scale damage caused by members of illegal Armenian armed groups on December 22, 1991, in Meshali village of Khojaly district is ongoing.
The investigation established that a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Khachatryan, who was born in 1955 in Badara village of Khojaly (former Asgaran) district and worked as a driver in the Khankendi city transport company, together with other people of Armenian nationality, used various weapons, including firearms and infantry fighting vehicles, to kill all Azerbaijani residents of Meshali village (Khojaly district).
The assailants attacked the village, killed 25 and injured 14 people of Azerbaijani nationality, and, contrary to national and international law norms, expelled 358 Azerbaijanis from their domicile.
In addition, Khachatryan continued his criminal actions together with his accomplices, destroying and damaging property belonging to the state and villagers, causing a total of over 5.96 million manat ($3.5 million) of material damage.
Due to the fact that sufficient reasonable suspicions arose regarding the criminal case, it was decided to involve Khachatryan as an accused person under articles 103 (massacre) and 107 (deportation or forced movement of the population) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. However, due to the fact that his whereabouts were unknown to the investigation, on November 12, 2013, an international arrest warrant was issued by an Azerbaijani court.
As a result of the conducted search measures, on July 29, 2023, Vagif Khachatryan was detained by the military personnel of the State Border Service at the Lachin border crossing point of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border. He was trying to go to the Republic of Armenia for treatment through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
