Ex-Artsakh leader Arayik Harutyunyan faces life sentence in Azerbaijan

Former Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan is facing a life prison sentence in Azerbaijan if convicted, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday, citing the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan.

He has been charged under more than ten articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, including with “waging a war of aggression” against Azerbaijan and “committing war crimes”.

Harutyunyan was arrested and taken to Baku on October 3. Earlier in the same day, Azerbaijani media reported the arrests of the two former Artsakh presidents, Bako Sahakyan and Arkady Ghukasyan, as well as parliament speaker David Ishkhanyan.

Artsakh’s former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, former Foreign Minister David Babayan, former army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan and his ex-deputy David Manukyan were detained by Azerbaijani authorities last week.