BAKU: Azerbaijan on Friday opened war crimes trials against Armenian separatists who led the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region before it was recaptured by Baku in a lightning offensive in 2023.
Azerbaijan’s seizure of the mountainous region ended nearly three decades of control by Armenian separatists, prompting the region’s entire ethnic Armenian population — more than 100,000 people — to flee.
Baku arrested several of the separatist leaders on charges of “planning, preparing and initiating” alleged war crimes, including torture, “waging an aggressive war” and the “deportation or forced displacement of the population.”
Armenia has denounced the separatist leaders’ arrests and demanded their liberation.
Two trials — one for 15 former officials, another for the region’s billionaire former leader Ruben Vardanyan — opened in the Azeri capital of Baku on Friday.
Among the 15 ex-officials are Karabakh’s former self-styled presidents, Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan and Araik Harutyunyan.
Hearings in both trials were held behind closed doors, with only Azeri state media allowed to view the proceedings.
Vardanyan is a former banker who made his fortune in Russia and then ruled the breakaway region between November 2022 and February 2023.
He has denied the charges — which could seem him jailed for life — and declared himself a “political prisoner.”
In a statement issued by his family on Thursday, he said: “I once again reiterate and state my complete innocence and the innocence of my Armenian compatriots also being held as political prisoners and demand an immediate end to this politically motivated case against us.”
The court rejected a request by his lawyers to merge the two trials, state media reported.
Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but was controlled by pro-Armenian separatists for more than three decades.
The two Caucasus foes fought wars for control of the region at the end of the Soviet Union and again in 2020, before Azerbaijan seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023.
Armenia’s foreign ministry said last year that it would take “all possible steps to protect the rights” of those being put on trial, “including in international courts.”
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Azerbaijan opens war crimes trial of Armenian separatists
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Azerbaijan opens war crimes trial of Armenian separatists
- Among the 15 ex-officials are Karabakh’s former self-styled presidents, Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan and Araik Harutyunyan
- Armenia has denounced the separatist leaders’ arrests and demanded their release
US warships arrive off coast of Haiti
- US embassy in Haiti says flotilla sent as a part of ‘Operation Southern Spear’
- US military campaign targets alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific
WASHINGTON: US military officials said Tuesday American warships had arrived off the coast of Haiti, as the island country’s leaders cling to power in their ongoing war against violent drug gangs.
The USS Stockdale, USCGC Stone and USCGC Diligence entered the Bay of Port-au-Prince to “reflect the United States unwavering commitment to Haiti’s security, stability and a brighter future,” the US embassy in Haiti posted on X.
The flotilla was sent “at the direction of the Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth as a part of “Operation Southern Spear,” the statement said, referring to the US military campaign targeting alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific that has killed more than 100 people in boat strikes.
After facing years of violence and instability, Haiti is entering a new phase of political turbulence in the days before the official end of the mandate for the country’s Presidential Transitional Council on February 7.
Gang violence forced the resignation in 2024 of a previous prime minister, Ariel Henry, and the country has not held elections since 2016, with government authority collapsing in much of the country, leading to overlapping security, health and economic crises.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with swaths of the country under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out murders, rapes and kidnappings.
The US recently announced new visa restrictions targeting senior officials, who are accused of supporting gangs.
The USS Stockdale, USCGC Stone and USCGC Diligence entered the Bay of Port-au-Prince to “reflect the United States unwavering commitment to Haiti’s security, stability and a brighter future,” the US embassy in Haiti posted on X.
The flotilla was sent “at the direction of the Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth as a part of “Operation Southern Spear,” the statement said, referring to the US military campaign targeting alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific that has killed more than 100 people in boat strikes.
After facing years of violence and instability, Haiti is entering a new phase of political turbulence in the days before the official end of the mandate for the country’s Presidential Transitional Council on February 7.
Gang violence forced the resignation in 2024 of a previous prime minister, Ariel Henry, and the country has not held elections since 2016, with government authority collapsing in much of the country, leading to overlapping security, health and economic crises.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with swaths of the country under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out murders, rapes and kidnappings.
The US recently announced new visa restrictions targeting senior officials, who are accused of supporting gangs.
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