The court rulings also affected former Minister of Defense of the NKR Levon Mnatsakanyan, former Speaker of Parliament David Ishkhanyan, former Chief of Staff of the Army David Manukyan, and former Foreign Minister of the NKR David Babayan. Each of them received a similar life sentence. Former presidents of the NKR Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The charges brought against the defendants included preparation for an aggressive war, committing war crimes and genocide, terrorism and its financing, as well as the violent seizure of power. All defendants denied their guilt.
The detention of former high-ranking officials of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic occurred at the end of 2023 following a military operation by Azerbaijan.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is predominantly inhabited by an Armenian population, declared its independence from Azerbaijan in 1991. In the subsequent war of 1992-1993, it came under the control of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. However, as a result of military actions in the fall of 2020, part of the territory was returned under the control of Azerbaijan. In 2023, after a new military operation, Azerbaijan fully established control over the region, leading to the dissolution of the NKR and a mass exodus of the Armenian population.
On August 8, in Washington, with the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a preliminary agreement on peace and the establishment of interstate relations. However, the final peace treaty has not yet been signed, as Azerbaijan demands changes to the Armenian constitution regarding Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan hopes for the conclusion of a peace treaty in the coming months.
