The Baku Court of Appeal has upheld the verdicts issued against the former Karabakh leaders and the other Armenians unlawfully held in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani APA news agency reported.
Hearings on the appeals filed by the POWs and other detainees were held today.
On February 5, 2026, a Baku court sentenced the Armenian detainees to prison terms on fabricated charges related to alleged war crimes, accusations they have strongly denied and which have been widely criticized as part of a sham trial.
The Azerbaijani court sentenced former Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan, former Defense Army Commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, former Deputy Commander of the Defense Army Davit Manukyan, former Speaker of Parliament Davit Ishkhanyan, and former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan to life imprisonment.
Former Karabakh presidents Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The other individuals being unlawfully detained — Madat Babayan, Melikset Pashayan, Garik Martirosyan, Davit Allahverdyan, Levon Balayan, Vasili Beglaryan, Gurgen Stepanyan, and Erik Ghazaryan — were sentenced to between 15 and 19 years in prison.
Former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan’s case was tried separately. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Published by Armenpress, original at
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