BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 17. The identities of the Armenians who, together with Vagif Khachatryan (currently on trial), killed 25, wounded 14, and evicted 358 Azerbaijanis from their legal place of residence in Azerbaijan's Meshali village, Khojaly district, in December 1991, have been revealed, Trend reports.
These persons who were residents of the village of Badara in the Khojaly district include Ernest Sarkisyan, Armais Sarkisyan, Benik Gasparian, Khoren Abramyan, Armen Avanesyan, Vova Sarkisyan, Gariy Khachaturyan, Nikolay Khachaturyan, Armen Abramyan, Eduard Abramyan, Zina Abramyan, Vakhid Abramyan, Karen Oganyan, Naorik Oganyan, Gurgen Gasparian, Valeriy Gasparian, Albert Davidyan, Samvel Saakyan, Asatur Osipyan, Karl Khachatryan, Eduard Israelyan, Artur Avakyan, Surik Sarkisyan, Verdi Allahverdiyan, Vilen Verdiyan, and other persons whose identities are unknown to the investigation.
These persons were involved in the activities of a criminal organization that consisted of armed military formations not provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan. These formations were created by Armenian nationalists who resided in the Karabakh economic region and people who arrived from Armenia.
In pursuit of these criminal activities, Vagif Khachatryan, along with the aforementioned members of illegal armed military formations, actively engaged in inciting national hatred and hostility between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples, humiliation of the national dignity of Azerbaijanis, restriction of their rights based on their national identity, and carrying out actions aimed at asserting Armenian dominance.
Starting from the summer of 1988, Azerbaijanis who went from Meshali village to cities like Aghdam and Khankendi were systematically subjected to attacks, beatings, insults with indecent language, death threats, destruction of their property, and other actions aimed at their physical destruction by the aforementioned illegal military formations.
Armenian citizen Vagif Khachatryan, who is on the international wanted list in connection with the Meshali genocide, was detained at the Lachin border checkpoint in July this year.
In connection with the emergence of sufficient grounded suspicions, a decision was made to bring Khachatryan as an accused under Articles 103 (genocide) and 107 (deportation or forced resettlement of the population) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
A measure of restraint in the form of detention was chosen against him.