Victims unveil gruesome details of events in Meshali Trial of Khachaturyan continues

Another trial on the criminal case of Vagif Cherkezovich Khachaturyan, accused of committing genocide in Meshali village of Azerbaijan's Khojaly district as a member of illegal Armenian armed groups, is underway in Baku.

The victims testified at the session, according to APA.

In response to their testimonies, Vagif Khachaturyan said that the perpetrators of the events in Meshali were natives of Armenia and from abroad. He said they were members of the Dashnaktsutyun party.

Khachaturyan stated that he did not participate in those events. The victims who testified at the trial stated that they knew Vagif Khachaturyan and that he was one of those who committed the crimes in Meshali.

Vagif Khachaturyan said that the plan of attack on Meshali village was developed a day earlier in Khankendi, the leaders of this detachment were from Khankendi and he does not know their names: "I know the participants of the events only from our village. I don't know the others."

The victim in the criminal case of Khachaturyan stated in court that members of his criminal group poured boiling water on a child and set it on fire.

Meshali resident Besti Behbudova said that she was a child during the events of Meshali: "My father suffered during these events, neighbours, and relatives were brutally killed. My father was treated for a long time for his injuries. Vagif should receive a life sentence. The elders said that Vagif was one of the perpetrators".

The victim Bairam Hajiyev then spoke. He said that at that time he had just returned from the army: "All the villagers said that Vagif and his gang had committed genocide in Meshali. They committed atrocities against old people, women and children. They doused the son of the late Ganimat with boiling water and set him on fire. This was committed by Armenians, residents of Badara village. Their group was headed by Armenians Vagif, Armais and Vahid. I ask the court to condemn to life imprisonment all those who tortured us".

The defendant said that he was not in Meshali at the time of the events: "I know Bayram's father well, but I was not there myself."

Adalat Salmanov, testifying at the trial as a victim, said that on the day when the events in Meshali took place, the village was attacked: "An Armenian named Armais addressed the village in Azerbaijani on the loudspeaker. They indiscriminately attacked everyone - children, old people. My car was set on fire. These actions were led by Armais, Garok and Vagif. They rejoiced. On the day when the events took place, we managed to take some of the wounded out of the village. When I returned to the village, I saw that our house had been set on fire".

Another victim, Fazil Hajiyev, noted that Vagif was one of those who burned 5 members of one family in the events in Meshali: "On the morning of December 23, the village was attacked. They blocked all the roads from the neighbouring village. There was only one road left for us - Lachin road. They burnt alive five members of one family. One of the ringleaders was Vagif, and I demand severe punishment for him".

Arzu Rustamov, who testified as the legal heir of the victim, said that his brother was killed in Meshali village: "My brother Hidayat Rustamov, as a police officer, was sent to this village. After he was killed, his body was burnt. My brother was known by the nickname 'Mirpasha'. The guys, police officers who came from Aghdam, found and brought his body, which we buried the next day. My brother was honoured with the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan."

"Armenians who were sharing bread with us in our house attacked us," said victim Shahin Kazimov.

He said that the car in which his brother, Police Major Ramil and other persons who were travelling to the hospital together with Armenians were was shelled: "The car was shelled by Vagif, Armais and Armais' nephew Spartak. I have known Vagif since then. I also know well those ringleaders in the village where Vagif lived. The most bloodthirsty criminal, the leader of those events was Demir Gaparyan. The Armenians were so brazen that they saw nothing. They captured my uncle, but he managed to escape".

Addressing Vagif Khachaturyan, Shahin Kazimov said: "Vagif, those who shared bread with us in our house attacked us. There were people killed in every house. They are subhumans."

Another victim, Mammad Zeynalov, said that at 7 a.m. on December 23, 1991, Meshali village was attacked: "They were burning houses. They were burning houses with people inside, they burned an infant. Vagif Khachaturyan is lying. They did everything themselves."

It should be noted that Armenian citizen Vagif Cherkezovich Khachaturyan, on the international wanted list concerning 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.