Prosecutors at Baku court: Systematic torture, forced settlements reflect Armenia’s state policy
Prosecutors at the Baku Military Court have accused Armenia of implementing a state policy of systematic torture and forced civilian relocations in occupied Azerbaijani territories, as the trial of Armenian citizens at the Baku Military Court continued on November 13 with prosecutors presenting the state’s case.
The session underscored that United Nations Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884 confirm Armenia’s occupation of sovereign Azerbaijani territories as a result of its military aggression, Caliber.Az reports via local media.
Prosecutors argued that Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan “effectively never ceased,” even during periods without active combat. Repeated violations of the ceasefire targeted members of the Azerbaijani armed forces, civilians, civilian property, government facilities, religious, educational, scientific, and medical institutions, and strategic infrastructure, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Prosecutors also emphasized that the systematic use of torture “reflected the policy of the Armenian state.”
Highlighting international law, the prosecution referenced the Protocol Additional (I) to the Geneva Conventions, which recognizes as a crime the “transfer by an occupying power of parts of its civilian population into occupied territory.” During the judicial investigation, the accused— Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Gukasyan, and Bako Saakyan—confirmed in their testimonies that civilians were relocated from Armenia into occupied Azerbaijani territories, specifically the Lachin district. This was corroborated by letters examined during the investigation, Armenian sources, and publicly available online data.
The accused face multiple charges, including crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, the preparation and conduct of aggressive war, genocide, violations of the laws and customs of war, terrorism, financing terrorism, violent seizure and retention of power, and other serious offenses.
By Vafa Guliyeva
editor@caliber.az
+994 55 444-88-98
Азербайджан, Баку, ул. Низами, 203, Af Business House, 5-й этаж