A Baku court today sentenced Armenian POWs Iskhan Sargsyan and Vladimir Rafaelyan to nineteen and eighteen years respectively, charging them with “carrying out terrorist acts in the territory of Azerbaijan.”

Sargsyan and Rafaelyan were two of six Armenian soldiers captured by Azerbaijani forces on May 27, 2021 along Armenia’s Gegharkunik border with Azerbaijan.

They were serving as sappers in the Armenian army.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense maintains the soldiers were on Armenian territory, refuting Azerbaijani claims they had crossed into Azerbaijan.

The other four captured Armenian soldiers were released one month later.

The Baku court decision says Sargsyan and Rafaelyan will spend nine years in prison and then be transferred to a detention center. They will then be deported from Azerbaijan.