As it was reported earlier, the competent authorities of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh have initiated numerous criminal cases on the facts of unleashing an aggressive war against the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh from 27.09.2020 (in violation of the requirements of international agreements), the use of prohibited methods of warfare and the deliberate and targeted infliction of human and property losses by the military-political leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In the course of the preliminary investigation, factual data were obtained regarding the recruitment and use of mercenaries from other countries from the first day of the aggressive war unleashed by the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As part of the efforts of the international community to end hostilities, a trilateral meeting was organized and held with the mediation of the political leadership of the Russian Federation with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, during which an agreement was reached on a ceasefire from 12:00 on October 10, 2020 for humanitarian purposes.
However, the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan without taking into account the numerous international conventions and agreements related to the fight against terrorism, in particular the norms of the UN Convention adopted on 16.12.1997 by the resolution 52/164, the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, the Treaty on Cooperation among the States Members of CIS in Combating Terrorism, from 12:00 on 10.10.2020, by not fulfilling its ceasefire obligations, continued to use mercenaries specifically recruited with the purpose of obtaining material compensation, who are members of various terrorist groups and have committed international terrorism.
In particular, in order to destabilize the internal state of a foreign country by organizing explosions, arson and other similar actions, the latter continued to kill people, destroy buildings, structures, roads, means of communication or other property, and these actions were accompanied by the use of missile, artillery complex and unmanned aerial vehicles and thus were targeted a number of settlements in the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia.
During the preliminary investigation of the criminal case, data were obtained that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan forced the mercenaries to continue hostilities against the Republic of Artsakh in Horadiz in the form of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
In particular, on 10.10.2020 at 12:05, the mercenaries launched an attack on the area called "Karakhambeyli", after which they attempted to penetrate Hadrut. On 11.10.2020, the cities of the Republic of Artsakh - Stepanakert, Martuni, Shushi, as well as various large rural communities were systematically targeted. On the same day, mercenaries, who penetrated Hadrut city, burnt the houses, brutally killed civilians, including a woman and her disabled son, as well as soldiers of the Artsakh Republic Defense Army.
Taking into account that there are data containing corpus delicti of international terrorism, the RA Central Military Prosecutor's Office has initiated a criminal case under Article 389 of the RA Criminal Code. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case has been instructed to the Investigative Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the GMID of the RA IC.
Currently, the entire toolkit for cooperation and mutual legal assistance with the respective states is being used to fully disclose these crimes and resolve the issue of holding the perpetrators liable.
