Prosecutor demands 20-year sentence for Lebanese mercenary fighting in Karabakh

The trial on the case of Lebanese mercenary terrorist Euljekjian Vicken Abraham, recruited by Armenia in Karabakh, continues in the administrative building of the Yasamal District Court today.

According to Report, at the trial chaired by Judge Elbay Allahverdiyev it was decided to let the accused out of the glass cage and seat him next to his lawyer and translator.

Then the court began examining the documents.

Euljekjian Vicken Abraham's lawyer filed a motion requesting that the case be returned to the investigation, citing that his client withdrew testimony that he gave during the investigation.

The court did not grant the request.

The testimony of Maral Nazaryan, who is currently in Lebanon and known as a witness in the trial, was heard during the trial.

During the interrogation, Nazaryan said that the accused fought against Azerbaijanis in Karabakh for money: "Euljekjian Vicken Abraham was a friend of my brother. We had an affair with him after my divorce. We came to Armenia several times and then went back. The last time we were there in early 2020. Due to the pandemic, I sent my children to Lebanon. After a while, I returned as well. Shortly before the war began, I returned to Euljekjian Vicken Abraham. When the war broke out in September, Vicken contacted some people he knew from Lebanon. As a result, we came to Shusha together. At that time, he spoke on the phone with a Lebanese citizen named Hovak, who offered him $2,000 to $ 2,500 a month to fight in the war. In addition, he said they would pay a salary. Vicken agreed while I protested that he was not an Armenian citizen, so it would create problems for us in the future. But he ignored me and went to war. When we spoke on the phone, Vicken said he was in the direction of Khojavand. They provided him with modern weapons and clothes. He returned 3-4 days later and said that the Azerbaijanis were very strong, all the mercenaries from abroad died, and he fled. Then we came to Lachin. On November 10, we heard that the war was over. When we arrived at the hotel in Shusha to pick up our belongings, the Azerbaijani military captured us. They saw pictures of Vicken fighting on his phone and detained him. "

Nazaryan's statement was presented to the participants of the trial in video format.

The accused said Nazaryan was lying in her testimony.

Vicken said he had been in an informal relationship with Nazarayan for about five years.

"We came to Armenia with Maral's children. We found a house for rent. Maral began working as a hairdresser, and I cooked and sold shaurma. After a while, a pandemic broke out in the country. The places we worked were closed. We moved to Maral's sister. There, Hovak and his mates said they were looking for someone to live in Karabakh. They provide both housing and employment. We agreed and applied. They sent us to Shusha. In Shusha, I was given a job at a concrete plant, and Maral started working in a women's salon. After the war began on September 27, we returned to Lachin. "

He said he was detained by the Armenian Armed Forces while driving and sent to war by force. "I was given a military uniform and provided with a machine gun. I was sent to Khojavand, where I stayed for three days and did not use a weapon. I fled to Shusha and then returned to Yerevan. On November 10, they said that the war was over. Maral and I went to a hotel in Shusha to take our belongings. At that time, we were detained by the Azerbaijani Army. "

Later the images from Euljekjian Vicken Abraham's phone were presented in the process.

The footage shows the accused in the trenches, preparing the mortar.

Commenting on the footage, the accused said that he took that footage for the photo and video.

The images featuring Euljekjian Vicken Abraham with other mercenaries that he shared on social media were also presented at the trial.

Then the trial ended. The public prosecutor demanded that the accused be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

According to the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, the investigation on the criminal case, initiated by the Main Investigation Department of the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code upon the fact of participation of Euljekjian Vicken Abraham, a citizen of the Republic of Lebanon, and others in terrorist activities against the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan as mercenaries joined in an organized group in exchange for remuneration, has been completed.

The investigation established that on September 29, 2020, Euljekjian Vicken Abraham, born in 1979, a citizen of the Lebanese Republic, a resident of Beirut, initially accepted Hovak Kikia's offer, a citizen of the Republic of Lebanon, to participate in military operations in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a mercenary in exchange for a material reward of $ 2,500. For this purpose, on the same day, with other persons as a member of an organized group, he deliberately crossed the protected state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of Armenia outside the checkpoints and arrived in the territories where other mercenaries were also present.

Besides, Vicken Euljekjian and other persons who fought as mercenaries in exchange for material rewards participated in terrorist activities against the citizens and the Army of the Republic of Azerbaijan, using illegally obtained firearms, ammunition, and spare parts not provided for in the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Vicken Euljekjian was charged under Article 114.3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan (participation of a mercenary in a military conflict or military operation), 214.2.1 (terrorist actions by a group of persons upon a prior conspiracy, an organized group, or a criminal organization), 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan) and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. By the court decision, arrest as a measure of restraint was chosen against him.