Former political figures and officials from Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians ran an unrecognized breakaway state for three decades until Azerbaijan restored military control in 2023, attend a court hearing in Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 5, 2026, in this screen grab from video. | Image Credit: Reuters
An Azerbaijani military court on Thursday (February 5, 2026) sentenced Armenian separatist leaders to life in prison in a war crimes trial, state media reported.
Azerbaijan annexed its breakaway region of Karabakh in 2023, ending nearly three decades of control by Armenian separatists, prompting the enclave’s entire ethnic Armenian population — more than 100,000 people — to flee.
After regaining control of the disputed territory, Baku arrested several separatist leaders on charges of war crimes. Armenia has demanded his release.
Arayk Harutyunyan – who led Karabakh’s separatist government from May 2020 to September 2023 – was “sentenced to life imprisonment by a Baku military court,” state news agency Azertag said.
The agency said he was convicted of crimes related to his decades-long control of Armenia’s mountainous enclave, “including waging a war of aggression, genocide, terrorism and other crimes.”
Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, who served as Karabakh’s separatist presidents from 1997 to 2007 and 2007 to 2020, respectively, were “sentenced to 20 years in prison, with no life sentence as they reached the age of 65.”
Other convicts include former Speaker of the Karabakh Parliament Davit Ishkhanyan, former Karabakh Foreign Minister Davit Babayan and Major General of the Armed Forces of Armenia Davit Manukyan, all sentenced to life imprisonment on similar charges.
Two trials – one for 15 former officials, the other for the region’s billionaire ex-leader Ruben Vardanyan – began in Baku in January 2025.
The verdict on the other accused in the case was expected later on Thursday. With access to state media limited, hearings have often been held behind closed doors.
Armenia’s foreign ministry said it would pursue “all possible measures,” including international legal action, to protect the rights of those standing trial in Baku.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a peace deal last year, brokered by US President Donald Trump.
Published – February 05, 2026 09:14 pm IST
