On March 3, the trial of citizens of the Republic of Armenia—Araik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, Davit Babayan, Leva Mnatsakanyan, and other Armenians—continued. They are accused of committing crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, including preparing and waging aggressive war, genocide, violating the laws and customs of war, as well as terrorism, financing terrorism, violent seizure of power, violent retention of power, and numerous other crimes as a result of Armenia’s military aggression.
The court proceedings took place in the Baku Military Court under the chairmanship of Judge Zeynal Agayev. Each defendant was provided with a translator in their native language, as well as lawyers for their defense.
The trial was attended by the defendants and their lawyers, some of the victims, their legal heirs and representatives, as well as prosecutors.
During the current court session, the defendants Leva Mnatsakanyan, Araik Harutyunyan, Erik Kazaryan, and Vasily Beglaryan voluntarily testified.
Defendant Leva Mnatsakanyan confirmed his participation in the war against Azerbaijan as part of the regular Armenian army. He stated that on September 20, 2020, a secret decision was made, of which he was unaware. He said that the Prime Minister of Armenia forbade them from talking to anyone or making any contacts.
Leva Mnatsakanyan also spoke about the April 2016 battles and stated that Armenia supplied weapons to the so-called regime.
“We had a lot of tactical, reconnaissance weapons, and electronic warfare equipment, some of which were also in Armenia,” he said.
In his testimony, Araik Harutyunyan described events leading up to the 44-day war:
“In June 2020, I asked Pashinyan to inform us about the negotiation process. In June 2020, a joint meeting of the Security Council was held in Yerevan. It was an open meeting for everyone. During the meeting, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia briefed us on the negotiation process. It was clear that this process had reached a deadlock. At that meeting, the leaders of Armenia’s defense structures briefed us on the state of the army. It became clear that Armenia was not ready for war. Waging war requires certain resources—food, weapons, and financial means. It turned out that Armenia did not have the capability to do this. I expressed my opinion very briefly there. I stated that in wartime, the outcome would depend on our resources. Because every war is a war for resources. Azerbaijan’s potential in all areas was many times greater than Armenia’s.
Then, in July, as you know, there were clashes in Tovuz. I had no idea what was happening there. I only knew what was shown on television. Since I was new, I had to familiarize myself with the ‘army’ and understand what was happening on the front line. In the summer of 2020, I began to familiarize myself with the front line and the ‘army.’ I published several articles on my Facebook page. All information about the ‘Army’ was provided to us by the ‘press service.’ Yes, there were speeches and things I now regret,” Harutyunyan noted.
He stated that he observed the exercises of the ‘Karabakh army’ in the summer and at the end of June that year and acknowledged that the exercises were led by the Chief of the Armenian General Staff, Onik Gasparyan. He confirmed that decisions to strike deep into Azerbaijan were made in Armenia:
“The commands were given by the Chief of the Armenian General Staff, Onik Gasparyan. This was not a secret process; everything was happening in plain sight. Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Karabakh at the end of summer. I accompanied him to ‘army units.’ He familiarized himself with the situation. I heard and saw what was happening in the ‘armed forces.’ I did not receive any information from the ‘Karabakh Defense Committee.’ No information about the situation was ever provided to me. I had no power over the ‘army.’ This is known to you as well. The indictment also states this. The Armenian press repeatedly mentioned that Armenia was responsible for the security of Armenians in Karabakh. Armenian armed forces, including the ‘Karabakh Defense Army,’ were also involved. Thus, Armenia was responsible for security matters.
As you know, on September 27, a full-scale war began. According to the ‘laws of Karabakh,’ we had to declare martial law, and we did. The ‘parliament’ announced the start of the war. A ‘military conscription’ was announced by the leadership of the ‘Karabakh army.’ It was clear to me what the outcome would be. From the first days, my conversation with Pashinyan was about when the war would end. I met regularly, almost daily, with members of parliament. I met with Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan almost every day. The topic was stopping the war, even if just a minute earlier. On October 2, I stated that I had no authority in the ‘army’ and that it would be better if I joined it as a soldier. I left my post, my office, and went to the front line. Of course, I could not be on the front line, as there were active hostilities, but I met with soldiers in the rear. I did not want to return. I knew what was going to happen. But I returned at the insistence of colleagues and friends. That day, a decision was made to strike military targets deep inside Azerbaijan using missiles or artillery. When I asked Onik Gasparyan whether these decisions were justified, he told me that, yes, the Azerbaijani airport was our main target and we had to destroy these targets. It was said that we had to create the impression that these strikes were carried out by Karabakh,” Harutyunyan recounted.
Araik Harutyunyan stated that he wanted to send a letter to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, but the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, did not allow him to do so:
“In the evening of October 18, we had a final meeting with Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan. I called Nikol Pashinyan and said that I was ready to write a letter to the President of Azerbaijan requesting to stop the war, and Bako and Arkadi would join in if necessary. The essence of the letter was simply to stop the war. The essence of the letter we wrote to Pashinyan was to stop the war by any necessary means and to declare that this was the will of the Armenian people. So, there was no unified opinion in Armenia. That is why I said we should be referenced, and the war should be stopped. We were ready to acknowledge our guilt for the crime, but human life had to be protected. Pashinyan held several meetings, met with the opposition, met with almost everyone. At the end of the day, on October 19, he called me back and said that the war would continue.”
A. Harutyunyan acknowledged that the ‘commander’ of the ‘Karabakh Defense Army’ was subordinate to the Chief of the Armenian General Staff. “I neither appointed nor dismissed the ‘military commander’ because I had no authority to do so.”
The next court session is scheduled for March 6.
