Meshali genocide victim: Khachaturyan, his brother participated in 1991 events VIDEO

Vagif Khachatryan and his brother participated in the genocide in the Meshali village of Khojaly district.

The statement came from Elman Alyshov, a victim during the Meshali events, at the trial of Vagif Khachaturyan, accused of committing genocide in Meshali, Trend reports.

According to Alyshov, during the attack on the village, an Armenian sniper shot his 78-year-old mother.

"Vagif Khachaturyan was directly involved in the attack. I've seen him a few times. The Armenians surrounded Novruz's house and killed him. I saw him hit with an axe," the victim added.

Khachaturyan is accused of participating in the massacre of Azerbaijanis in Meshali village of Khojaly district on 22 December 1991 as a member of Armenian military units.

Armenian citizen Vagif Cherkezovich Khachaturyan, on the international wanted list due to the genocide in Meshali, was detained in July this year at the Lachin border checkpoint.

The criminal group which he led killed 25 Azerbaijanis in the village of Meshali in the Khojaly district in December 1991, wounded 14 people and evicted 358 Azerbaijanis from their legal place of residence.

A criminal case was opened against him under articles 103 (genocide) and 107 (deportation or forced resettlement of the population), and a preventive measure in the form of remand in custody was chosen.

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.