News - Karabakh resident Vagif Khachatryan, abducted by Azerbaijan, pleads ‘not guilty’ in court

Nagorno-Karabakh resident Vagif Khachatryan, who has been abducted by Azerbaijanis, pleaded “not guilty.” The Azerbaijani media report this from the court where a judicial farce called "Vagif Khachatryan's trial" is taking place. Khachatryan, a participant in the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in the early 1990s, was abducted by the Azerbaijanis this summer while crossing the Lachin corridor into Armenia—and being accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Azerbaijani authorities accuse Khachatryan of committing serious crimes for participating in combat operations. Despite these obviously illegal actions by Azerbaijan, including the abducting of a person under the protection of the ICRC, Khachatryan was not only not released, but is standing trial. A total of 59 people are considered "victims" in this fabricated case, and all of them have "recognized" Khachatryan and spoken about his "crimes." Vagif Khachatryan, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge against him, and stated that he did not participate in crimes against Azerbaijanis. "The Azerbaijanis living there were close to me, I knew them all. I did not participate in any event during the fight," he said.