More than 2,000 criminal cases have been opened and are being investigated regarding apparent crimes against the defense capability and military service of Armenia and Artsakh during the 2020 military operations, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia has announced.
According to the report, the investigations cover, for example, possible violations permitted in the processes of mobilization and troop assembly, crimes against the order of military service during the war, and the circumstances of the management of troop and unit operations in the southern directions of Artsakh—Mekhakavan, Horadiz, Hadrut—and the enemy’s advance from the southern direction toward Armenia’s borders and toward the center of Artsakh, the city of Shushi, and the occupation of settlements.
The Prosecutor General’s Office also stated that the subject of the investigation includes all data indicating the presence of signs of crime, presented publicly on various platforms and brought to the attention of law enforcement bodies, as well as received from the parents and relatives of fallen and missing servicemen, concerning the military operations conducted in the directions of the height called “Nzhdeh” (“Lele-Tepe”), Mekhakavan, Hadrut, Mets Tagher, Taghavard, Sghnakh, Karin Tak, and Shushi, with the aim of clarifying the circumstances of abuse of official position, official negligence, and failure to obey orders by officials.
As stated in the report, within the National Security Service of Armenia alone, around 150 people have been questioned in the criminal case being investigated regarding the events and operations that took place in the southern direction of Artsakh and toward Shushi, and in Shushi, including the President of Artsakh, commanders of the Defense Army, an advisor to the President of Artsakh, a deputy commander of the Defense Army, the former secretary of the Artsakh Security Council, and others.
As early as the beginning of May, the President of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, had announced that he had been questioned within the scope of the criminal case concerning the war.
The Prosecutor General’s Office stated that charges have been brought against more than 800 people in the criminal cases under investigation, including high-ranking officers of the Armed Forces of Armenia.
The preliminary investigation continues in the majority of the criminal cases, according to the statement of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
