BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 14. 170 people taken hostage and captive by Armenians were deliberately killed using torture, Azerbaijan's state prosecutor Fuad Musayev said during the announcement at a court hearing in Baku of facts of forced disappearances, capture and hostage taking, as well as torture during the period of Armenian aggression, Trend reports.
It was emphasized that in 1988-2023, 122 out of 1,284 civilians taken hostage by applying more than a hundred different torture methods in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and its surrounding areas, and 48 out of 414 military personnel taken hostage, 170 out of a total of 1,698 prisoners of war and hostages were deliberately killed in places of their detention by applying torture and inhuman treatment, while the remaining 1,528 people were released in exchange for material benefits provided by the Azerbaijani state through international organizations, as well as through personal initiatives and connections of close relatives of prisoners of war and hostages.
We recall that 15 people, including Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan, Arkadi Arshaviri Ghukasyan, Bako Sahaki Sahakyan, Davit Rubeni Ishkhanyan, David Azatini Manukyan, Davit Klimi Babayan, Levon Henrikovich Mnatsakanyan, Vasili Ivani Beglaryan, Erik Roberti Ghazaryan, Davit Nelsoni Allahverdiyan, Gurgen Homeri Stepanyan, Levon Romiki Balayan, Madat Arakelovich Babayan, Garik Grigori Martirosyan, Melikset Vladimiri Pashayan, were charged under Articles 100 (planning, preparing, initiating and waging a war of aggression), 102 (attacking persons or organizations enjoying international protection), 103 (genocide), 105 (extermination of the population), 106 (enslaving), 107 (deportation or forced displacement of the population), 109 (persecution), 110 (enforced disappearance of people), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law), 113 (torture), 114 (mercenary service), 115 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare), 116 (violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflict), 118 (military robbery), 120 (intentional murder), 192 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing terrorism), 218 (creation of a criminal association (organization)), 228 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation and possession of weapons, their components, ammunition, explosives and devices), 270-1 (acts threatening aviation security), 277 (assassination of a state official or public figure), 278 (forcible seizure and retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state), 279 (creation of armed formations and groups not provided for by law) and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.