Azerbaijani state prosecutors on July 28 urged the Baku Court of Appeals to reject the appeals of the illegally detained military and political leaders of Artsakh and leave standing the guilty verdicts handed down by the Baku Military Court.

The prosecutors, according to the Azerbaijani state news agency AzerTaj,  noted that “the verdicts passed by the court of first instance fully comply with both national legislation and the universally recognized principles and norms of international law.”

Only Azerbaijani state and government-controlled media outlets are present at the trial. It is not possible to verify the statements attributed to the Armenians on trial from other sources.

The court then allowed the Armenian prisoners to respond to the prosecutors’ request.

The first to speak was the defense attorney of the former President of the Republic of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan. The attorney asked the court to grant the appeals, overturn the verdict of the court of first instance, and acquit his client. Sahakyan was also given the right to speak, but he said that he wanted to exercise this right at the next court session.

Then, the defense attorney of the fourth president of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, made a speech, asking the court to acquit his client. Arayik Harutyunyan also stated that he does not accept the charges filed against him.

Baku’s Military Court, on February 5, 2026, sentenced the fourth president of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan; former Artsakh Defense Army Commander Levon Mnatsakanyan; former Artsakh Defense Army Deputy Commander David Manukyan; the last speaker of the Artsakh National Assembly David Ishkhanyan; former advisor to the president of the Republic of Artsakh and former foreign minister David Babayan; to life imprisonment, and former presidents of the Republic of Artsakh Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Eight more Armenian prisoners are being held in this case. Among them, Madat Babayan and Melikset Pashayan were sentenced to nineteen years in prison,  Davit Alaverdyan to sixteen years, Garik Martirosyan to eighteen years, Levon Balayan to sixteen years, and Vasily Beglaryan, Erik Ghazaryan, and Gurgen Stepanyan to fifteen years in prison.

The fifteen Armenians were found guilty on a variety of charges including genocide, terrorism, torture, waging an aggressive war, willful murder, being mercenaries, slavery, and population displacement and destruction.

Former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, in a separate case, was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

The next court hearing will take place on July 31.

Photo (from left): Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan (Azertaj)