BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 17. The criminal gang led by Vagif Khachatryan killed Azerbaijanis, victim Ilham Kazimov said at the trial of Khachatryan, Trend reports.
"They shot my aunt in the leg. When we arrived, she told us that Vagif's group was killing Azerbaijanis. Because the Armenian militants were unable to totally block the road leading from the settlement, the path to Lachin remained open. If the Armenians had used that way as well, they would have slaughtered all of us. They assassinated my father first. I was hurt personally," Kazimov reminded.
"My wife and children struggled to get out of there in the snow. Frostbite rendered my wife immobile. After some time, they tracked us down and flew us to Aghdam via helicopter. This Vagif was the leader of the group that carried out a slaughter at Meshali. He gets sentenced to life in prison. We demand that," the victim added.
Khachatryan, as a member of Armenian armed formations, organized the massacre of Azerbaijanis in Meshali village of Khojaly district on December 22, 1991.
Citizen of Azerbaijan Khachatryan who was born in 1955 and lived in Badara village of Khojaly district, worked as a driver in the automobile transport enterprise of Khankendi city together with other persons of Armenian nationality with the purpose of complete destruction of Azerbaijanis living in Meshali village as a single national group, using various types of weapons, including firearms and infantry fighting vehicles, committed an armed attack on this village, killed 25 persons of Azerbaijani nationality, inflicted bodily injuries of various degrees on 14 persons, expelled 358 Azerbaijanis from their places of legal residence without grounds provided for by international legal norms and laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In addition, Khachatryan, continuing joint criminal actions with persons by prior conspiracy, destroyed and damaged property belonging to the state and villagers, causing material damage in the total amount of 5.49 million manat ($3.2 million).
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 population) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
Due to the fact that his whereabouts were not known to the investigation, he was put on an international wanted list, and on November 12, 2013, by a court ruling, a measure of restraint in the form of arrest was chosen against him.
As a result of search measures, Khachatryan was detained by the servicemen of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the Lachin border checkpoint of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border on July 29, 2023, while trying to travel to the Republic of Armenia for medical treatment through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.