Civilnet
By Mark Dovich
Azerbaijan has brought criminal charges against another Armenian civilian from Nagorno-Karabakh, less than two weeks after the country for the first time convicted one of the dozens of Armenian detainees in its custody to a lengthy prison term.
Azerbaijan has brought five charges, including war crimes charges, against 61-year-old Rashid Beglaryan, the state-run Azertag news agency reported Monday, citing the country’s State Security Service. If found guilty, he could face decades in prison.
Beglaryan was detained by Azerbaijani border guards in August, reportedly after crossing into Azerbaijani-controlled territory by mistake while intoxicated. The exact circumstances of Beglaryan’s detention, initially only on charges of illegally entering Azerbaijan, remain unclear.
Likewise, it was not immediately clear why Azerbaijan decided to add war crimes charges more than three months after first detaining Beglaryan, who as of Tuesday had not commented publicly on the matter.
What’s the context?
Earlier this month, a military court in Azerbaijan sentenced Vagif Khachatryan, a 68-year-old Armenian man from Nagorno-Karabakh, to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of committing war crimes during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war.
Khachatryan and his family have repeatedly and strenuously denied the charges, while the Armenian government has decried the trial as a “sham.”
Khachatryan has been held in Azerbaijan since July, when he was detained by Azerbaijani border guards during a medical evacuation from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Beglaryan and Khachatryan are among the dozens of Armenians held in Azerbaijan, including eight former senior Nagorno-Karabakh officials who were detained during September’s mass exodus to Armenia.
Also watch: Advocating for Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan
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