Today, Azerbaijani courts announced multiple life imprisonment sentences in sham proceedings in Baku, concluding a trial against former Artsakh political leaders, military officials, and civilians that lacked any credible judicial basis.
The proceedings were conducted without fundamental fair-trial guarantees. Defendants were detained without independent judicial oversight, denied effective legal defense, and prosecuted under politically constructed accusations that failed to meet internationally recognized evidentiary and procedural standards. Rather than assessing individual responsibility, the process imposed collective criminal liability.
Former Presidents
Arayik Harutyunyan (2020-2023), life imprisonment
Arkadi Ghukasyan (2007-2020), 20 years
Bako Sahakyan (1997-2007), 20 years
Former Ministers and High Officials
Davit Ishkhanyan, life imprisonment
David Babayan, life imprisonment
Military Officials
Lieutenant general Levon Mnatsakanyan, life imprisonment
Major General David Manukyan, life imprisonment
Notably, Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were sentenced to 20-year terms on the basis of age.
Taken together, the charges, evidentiary practices, and procedural failures render the proceedings a sham trial that violates fundamental principles of due process, fair-trial rights, and the prohibition of collective punishment under international humanitarian law. The case forms part of a broader effort to criminalize Artsakh’s leadership and retroactively legitimize the 2023 use of force.
With 20 Armenians still held in detention, these sentences institutionalize an ongoing humanitarian and legal violation and demand sustained international scrutiny.
