Azerbaijan unveils judge to consider criminal case against Armenian accused in genocide

The criminal case against Vagif Khachaturyan, accused of committing genocide, has been sent to the Baku Military Court, where it will be considered under the chairmanship of Judge Jamal Ramazanov.

The preliminary investigation on the criminal case against Vagif Khachaturyan, accused of committing genocide in Meshali village of Khojaly district on December 22, 1991, has been completed, Report informs.

The date of the preparatory session of the court is still unknown.

To recall, Khachatryan was charged under Articles 103 ("Genocide") and 107 ("Deportation or forced resettlement of population") of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and arrested by the court decision.

Article 103 ("Genocide - actions aimed at the complete or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing members of this group, causing serious harm to their health or serious harm to their mental abilities, creating living conditions designed for the complete or partial physical destruction of members of this group, carrying out activities aimed at prevention of births within a group, forced transfer of children belonging to one group to another") - provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 14 to 20 years or life imprisonment.

Article 107 ("Deportation or forced relocation of the population, the expulsion of the population from legal places of settlement to another State or expulsion by other coercive actions, without grounds established by the norms of international law and the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan") provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years.

Both articles belong to the category of grave and especially grave crimes. Thus, according to the totality of the articles, Vagif Khachaturyan can expect a sentence of 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

Vagif Khachatryan was arrested by Azerbaijani border guards at the Lachin checkpoint on July 29.

Azerbaijan's General Prosecutor's Office said Khachaturyan was arrested because he was a suspect in war crimes against Azerbaijanis during the first Garabagh war of the early 1990s. It pointed to his alleged involvement in a specific episode on December 22, 1991, in Meshali village of Khojaly district of Garabagh.