News - Azerbaijan ‘court’ rules against Karabakh ex-resident Vagif Khachatryan appeal

The judicial farce being carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities continues against the captured elderly Armenian man, Vagif Khachatryan, a former resident of Nagorno-Karabakh. The decision on Khachatryan's appeal was read during an appellate court session in Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, the Azerbaijani media reported. And as expected, a verdict was made against this appeal, and the decision of the Azerbaijani court of first instance was upheld. Earlier we reported that Nagorno-Karabakh resident Vagif Khachatryan, 68, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a court in Baku. Vagif Khachatryan, a participant in the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in the early 1990s, was abducted by the Azerbaijanis last 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 stood trial. A total of 59 people were considered "victims" in this fabricated case, and all of them "recognized" Khachatryan and spoke about his "crimes." Vagif Khachatryan, however, had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and stated that he did not participate in any crimes against Azerbaijanis. It is noteworthy that this Armenian resident and citizen of Nagorno-Karabakh was presented by Azerbaijan as a citizen of Armenia.