16:35

Persons who created illegal armed groups and organized their activities in the territory of Karabakh were arrested

A criminal investigation is being continued by the State Security Service into the terrorist acts committed by illegal armed units operating in the Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Reasonable suspicions have been arisen during the investigation that Arkadi Arshaviri Ghukasyan, Bako Sahaki Sahakyan and Davit Rubeni Ishkhanyan created armed groups in contravention of the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan while acting as so-called “presidents of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” and “interim president” respectively, organized their activities, supplied these illegal armed groups with weaponry, ammunition, explosives, military equipment and hardware, organized raids on offices, organizations and individuals causing the death of people and other serious consequences, illegally acquired, transferred, stored, transported firearms, their parts, ammunition, explosives with full knowledge that money and other property would be used directly and indirectly by these illegal armed groups for the purpose of committing acts of terror by means of their deliberate collection, allocation and distribution.

Reasonable suspicions have also arisen that in order to commit terrorist acts on the territory of Republic of Azerbaijan the mentioned individuals conducted trainings on the use of firearms, explosive substances and devices, toxic substances, other dangerous technical means, and motivated by national hatred and hostility and with the intention to disrupt public order, create panic among population, influence decision-making by state authorities and international organizations, in the form of organized groups armed with weapons and other objects utilized as weapons, committed repeated terrorist acts accompanied by human death, harm to their health, significant damage to the property and other dangerous acts as well as continuous mining off the areas and other hostilities.

As a result of the actions carried out by the State Security Service, Arkadi Ghukasyan, born in the city of Khankendi in 1957, Bako Sahakyan, born in the same city in 1960, and Davit Ishkhanyan, born in the Khojavand district of Azerbaijan in 1958, were arrested on October 3, 2023 and charges were brought against them under Articles 214.2.1, 214.2.2, 214.2.3 (terrorism by repeated use of firearms, explosives and devices by an organized gang), 214-1 (financing terrorism), 214-3.2 (organization of trainings with the purpose of terrorism), 228.3 (repeated illegal acquisition, storage, transportation and movement of firearms, their parts, ammunition, explosives and devices by an organized group) and 279.3 (creating armed groups and units not provided for by law and participation in their activities) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Currently, investigative and operational measures on the criminal case are being continued.