Ruben Vardanyan via Twitter
On 3 October, media reported that Arkhady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan had been apprehended and transferred from Karabakh to Baku, where they face multiple charges stemming from crimes allegedly committed under their de facto leadership of the small separatist region situated within Azerbaijan.
Those reports were effectively confirmed today and follow last week’s detention of several other high-level de facto officials in the wake of Azerbaijan’s 19 September military operation in the region. Among them is Russian-Armenian businessman and former de facto State Minister Ruben Vardanyan.
On 28 September, a Baku court placed Vardanyan in pre-trial detention for four months. He faces charges of financing terrorism, illegally crossing the border, and membership of an illegal armed group.
Despite the significance of Vardanyan, Ghukasyan, and Sahakyan’s arrest, Arayik Harutyunyan was likely especially high-priority given his public admission of authorizing missile attacks on Ganja during the 2020 Karabakh war.
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The full article can be read here.
