Victims in the Vardanyan case told the court about the victims of the shelling.
At the trial of Ruben Vardanyan, who headed the Nagorno-Karabakh government in 2022, Azerbaijani citizens testified about shelling that occurred long before Vardanyan moved to Karabakh.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the Baku Military Court has been hearing the case of former Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan since January 2025. The charges against him, including war crimes, terrorism, and terrorist financing, carry a sentence of up to life imprisonment. Victims have been speaking at the hearings since April 1. The defendant and his lawyer repeatedly filed protests to the court, but all motions to disqualify the judges were denied.
On October 21, Vardanyan dismissed his contractual lawyer, who had represented him for over six months. He later explained his refusal by arguing that he had exhausted his defense's procedural options, and that the presence of a contractual lawyer in the trial merely created the illusion of a defense. On November 4, it became known that Ruben Vardanyan had also refused his appointed lawyer.
On November 21, another hearing in the Ruben Vardanyan case was held. At the hearing, the accused "was provided with an interpreter in the language he speaks, that is, Russian, and a state-funded defense attorney," APA reports.
The victims spoke at the hearing. In particular, the victim, Beyler Shabanov, reported that "remnants of the Armenian army and illegal Armenian armed groups" opened fire on the Niva he was driving, causing damage.
It was only in September 2022 that Ruben Vardanyan announced his decision to renounce his Russian citizenship and move to Nagorno-Karabakh, where he soon agreed to head the government. The prosecution accuses Vardanyan of events that occurred many years before his arrival in Karabakh, the defense stated in May.
Another victim, Kanan Rzazade, told the court that he was caught in a mortar attack while in an ambulance in the Kelbajar region, injuring himself and Elvin Suleymanov, who was nearby.
Victim Zamin Amrali reported that a mortar shell explosion in the Zangilan region killed two people, and wounded him and several others, the publication states.
Other victims also told the court about their injuries and the deaths of others as a result of the shelling. Thus, Orkhan Aleskerov stated that he was wounded as a result of artillery shelling in the Kelbajar region, and Sarkhan Omarov, who was next to him, was killed, Trend writes.
The Kelbajar (Armenian name for Kelbajar is Karvachar) region was located in the Shahumyan and Martakert regions of Nagorno-Karabakh and came under the control of Baku in 2020, following a 44-day war.
Victim Ibrahim Mayilli said that Farid Mehbali and Tabriz Rahimov were killed as a result of a mortar shell explosion in the Zangilan region, and he and several others were wounded.
Farid Shahbazov also told the court that he and two more people were injured as a result of a mortar shell explosion "fired by the Armenian army and illegal Armenian armed groups" in the village of Aliagaly in the Aghdam region.
Both Armenian and Azerbaijani forces beheaded prisoners and desecrated the corpses of their opponents during the 44-day war in 2020, experts said after examining and verifying video footage from Nagorno-Karabakh. International organizations should monitor the progress of the investigation into war crimes committed by all parties to the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani human rights activists interviewed by the Caucasian Knot stated.
"Victims Abdul Melikov, Mardan Allahverdiyev, and Sahil Rasulov stated that they received injuries of varying severity as a result of the explosion of an artillery shell and a hand grenade that landed nearby, fired by illegal Armenian armed groups and remnants of the Armenian army located in the village of Vengli in the Aghdere region. Zamin Hasratov, Bayram Huseynov, Tamerlan Rashidli, Subkhan Abbasov, Ravan Mamedov, and Emin Jafarov were also injured in the same incident," the publication stated.
Documents and other materials from the criminal case were also examined in court, the publication reported. Agency.
As a reminder, Ruben Vardanyan's case is being heard separately from those of the other Karabakh leaders. A total of 15 former Karabakh officials are on trial in Baku, including former presidents Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arkady Ghukasyan, as well as former parliament speaker David Ishkhanyan. They have been charged under more than 20 articles, and the case comprises 2,548 counts.
On October 31, the completion of the trial of the former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh was announced. The prosecution has requested life imprisonment for Arayik Harutyunyan, David Ishkhanyan, David Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, and David Manukyan, and 20 years or more for the others. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report entitled "Vardanyan and 15 Karabakh leaders: key points about the Baku courts".
Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/417410
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