Next trial of Meshali genocide culprit kicks off in Baku

The ongoing court session on the criminal case of Vagif Cherkezovich Khachaturyan, accused of committing genocide in Meshali village of Khojaly district as a member of illegal Armenian armed groups, has started in Baku.

The court session will be chaired by Judge Zeynal Agayev of Baku Military Court, APA reports.

Vagif Khachaturyan is accused of participating in the massacre of Azerbaijanis in Meshali village of Khojaly district on 22 December 1991 as part of Armenian military formations. As a result, 27 Azerbaijanis were killed, 21 people were wounded of varying degrees of severity, two villagers were taken hostage and 340 people were expelled from their homes. 

On 29 July this year, Vagif Khachaturyan was detained by the servicemen of the State Border Service at Lachin border checkpoint while trying to leave for Armenia. By the court's decision, a preventive measure in the form of arrest was chosen against him. He was prosecuted as an accused under Articles 103 (genocide) and 107 (deportation or forced resettlement of population) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On 22 September this year, the accused Vagif Khachaturyan was again charged under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code, and on 29 September the preliminary investigation of the criminal case was completed and sent to the Baku Military Court for consideration.