Azerbaijan Sentences 62-Year-Old Armenian POW to 15 Years in Prison

Rashid Beglaryan, a 62-year-old citizen of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), has been wrongfully sentenced to 15 years in prison in Baku. This news comes from Azerbaijani media reports. Beglaryan's sentence was announced after two court hearings. According to the court’s decision, he will spend five of those years in a high-security prison.

Beglaryan was captured last summer. The State Security Service of Azerbaijan claimed he was involved in the "Khojaly genocide," an event attributed to the Armenian side but said to have been committed by Azerbaijanis themselves. The Security Service accused Beglaryan of torturing Azerbaijani prisoners of war and others protected by international humanitarian law. He was also charged with committing other serious crimes against peace and humanity, including war crimes and participating in illegal Armenian armed groups. The charges against him are based on Articles 112, 113, 115.2, 279.1, and 318.1 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code.

According to Azerbaijan, Beglaryan illegally crossed a section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on August 1. They accused him of committing ethnic cleansing in the Khojaly region of Artsakh in December 1991. The State Border Guard Service of Azerbaijan claimed that Beglaryan admitted his guilt and showed the locations where he allegedly committed crimes against Azerbaijani civilians. However, Beglaryan has not been given the right to an attorney. Thus, this information is solely based on Azerbaijani propaganda. 

This case is similar to another recent incident. On November 7, an Azerbaijani court sentenced Vagif Khachatryan to 15 years in prison on similar charges. Khachatryan was detained by Azerbaijani border guards on July 29 while being transferred to Armenia for medical treatment along the Lachin Corridor – during the 9 month long blockade.

The sentencing of Rashid Beglaryan is likely to increase tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The region has a long history of conflict, and incidents like this often worsen the situation. International observers and human rights organizations may scrutinize the fairness of Beglaryan's trial and the conditions under which he confessed.