BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 13. At the ongoing trial held at the Baku Military Court on June 13, the accused Levon Mnatsakanyan, while responding to questions from state prosecutor, noted that he was deployed to various areas at the request of “president” of the illegal regime Arayik Harutyunyan, during the 44-day war, which took place in 2020, Trend reports.
According to him, he was retired at the time.
He said he was tasked by A. Harutyunyan who contacted him twice on October 14 and November 3 or 4 (cannot remember exactly - ed.) to assist the local "authorities" in addressing security and civil defense matters and check the operational readiness of the artillery. Therefore, L. Mnatsakanyan was assigned to Hadrut, Sugovushan, and other areas.
Subsequently, the court examined another evidence, a video footage taken during the 44-day war, highlighting a military meeting taking place in a classroom in Shushakand, also featuring Levon Mnatsakanyan.
The military meeting was chaired by Samvel Babayan (former “minister of defense of the illegal regime, as well as former “secretary of the security council” – ed.)
The video included discussions regarding launching an attack against the Azerbaijani military servicemen, with Samvel Babayan stating that "there is a mined area shown on the map, don't cross that mined area, it will explode."
“It is 1-1.5 kilometers from here to there under the shelter. There is a road from there through a "quarry". That road must be closed. So, the task is to encircle the enemy in Shusha. Our actions tomorrow will decide the fate of the entire Karabakh,” Samvel Babayan noted.
Following the examination of the evidence, while responding to the questions from state prosecutor, Levon Mnatsakanyan denied his participation at the meeting, also claiming that no planned attack was launched the following morning.
The trial continues against Armenian nationals accused of serious offenses, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, aggression, terrorism, and violations of the laws of war. The charges also include financing of terrorism, violent seizure and retention of power, and other grave crimes.