On June 2, at the Baku Court of Appeal, a court hearing began on the appeals of citizens of the Republic of Armenia Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Gukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, David Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, and others, who were convicted by the Baku Military Court with an indictment verdict for numerous crimes including peace and humanity crimes, war crimes resulting from Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan, including the preparation and conduct of aggressive war, genocide, violation of the laws and customs of war, terrorism, financing terrorism, forcible seizure of power, and other crimes.
According to Medianews.az, at the court session of the Baku Court of Appeal held with the participation of judges led by Elmar Rahimov as chairman, Emin Mehdiyev, and Mehriban Garayeva (reserve judge Ali Mammadov), each of the defendants involved in the appellate proceedings in the criminal case was provided with interpreters in the languages they know – Armenian and Russian – as well as lawyers to ensure their defense.
The session was attended by representatives of the victims, prosecutors defending the state prosecution – the head of the Department for State Prosecution Defense of the Prosecutor General's Office Abbas Abbasli, and the department prosecutors Anar Alekbarov and Sevinc Gasimova.
The defendants stated that they had no objections to the interpreters, the judicial panel, the defense attorneys, the prosecutors defending the state prosecution, or the representatives present.
The defendants were repeatedly explained their detained rights and duties as defined by the criminal procedure legislation. David Babayan stated that he defends the appellate complaint submitted by himself, while other defendants said they defend the appeals submitted by their attorneys.
After the chairman acquainted himself with the defendants' positions regarding the complaints, he announced that the raised motions would be reviewed at the next stage according to the requirements of the legislation.
The defendants submitted relevant motions regarding carrying out certain clarifications on the appeal complaint, the participation of a representative from the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the court session, hearing of witnesses, and other issues.
Prosecutor Sevinc Gasimova, defending the state prosecution, commented on the motions, noting that the Ombudsman's Office representative is not a party to the current court proceedings. The representative of that institution may participate in the open court session on a public basis. According to the legislation, the Ombudsman or representatives of the Ombudsman's Office can visit places of detention to assess detention conditions and other matters and take preventive measures.
It was also noted that a sufficient number of witnesses were heard during the preliminary investigation and court hearing, and they confirmed their previous statements. According to the legislation, new evidence not presented in the first instance can be accepted in the appeal stage only if reasons for the previous inability to submit them are justified.
It was mentioned that when submitting motions to hear new witnesses, concrete registration details of those persons should be provided; however, the defense failed to provide such information.
Moreover, the prosecution emphasized that unnecessary gathering of evidence should not lead to prolonging or delaying the court process.
For these reasons, the prosecutor defending the state prosecution requested the court to deny the motions to avoid unnecessary extension of the proceedings.
The representatives of the victims also expressed their agreement with the prosecution's position.
It was also stressed at the court session that one of the motions concerned access to the protocols and case materials electronically. There is no restriction in this regard, and any party to the proceedings may apply and familiarize themselves with the documents.
Subsequently, the judicial panel went into consultation. After the consultation, the adopted decisions were announced, stating that the defense motions were partially granted.
The appeal hearing will continue on June 9.
It should be recalled that according to the verdict of the Baku Military Court dated February 5, 2026, Arayik Harutyunyan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, David Manukyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, and David Babayan were sentenced to life imprisonment. Arkadi Gukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were sentenced to 20 years, Madat Babayan and Melikset Pashayan to 19 years, Garik Martirosyan to 18 years, Davit Allahverdyan and Levon Balayan to 16 years, and Vasili Beglaryan, Gurgen Stepanyan, and Erik Gazaryan to 15 years of imprisonment.