The Baku Military Court has sentenced former military and political leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, who were detained in the fall of 2023 after the region passed under Azerbaijani control.
This was reported by the state news agency AZERTAC.
The former president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Arayik Harutyunyan, was sentenced to life in prison. The same sentence was given to former Defense Army Commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, his deputy David Manukyan, and the regionʼs former "foreign minister" David Babayan.
Two other former presidents, Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, were sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to the agency, they were not given life sentences, in part due to the defendantsʼ age.
A total of 15 people are involved in the case. Azerbaijani authorities have accused them of crimes "against peace and humanity", including waging a war of aggression, terrorism, and violating the laws of war.
What is happening between Armenia and Azerbaijan?
Christian Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan have been fighting over territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh, for over a century. Each country claims the region as its own historical territory, each with its own arguments and interpretations of history.
After the 1991–1993 war and the signed armistice, Nagorno-Karabakh became an unrecognized republic, de facto partially controlled by Armenia, but de jure part of Azerbaijan.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched its final military offensive on the territory. After a day of fighting and shelling, the unrecognized NKR capitulated, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared the restoration of the countryʼs sovereignty.
The NKR forces then began to surrender their equipment and weapons, and the Armenians began to leave Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan began the reintegration of the region, and on January 1, 2024, the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic officially ceased to exist.
The Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan published the text of the peace agreement in August 2025, which was signed under US mediation. Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of force against each otherʼs territorial integrity.
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