What Charges Has Azerbaijan Filed Against Former Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan?

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has issued a statement regarding the charges brought against former Minister of Defense of Artsakh, Levon Mnatsakanyan:

“The investigation has established reasonable suspicions that Lyova Henrik's Mnatsakanyan, who was born in 1965 and resided in Azerbaijan's Khojavend region, is a former military personnel of Armenia who served as the 'Minister of Defense' of the fictitious regime from 2013-2018 and was a member of an illegal armed group operating in Azerbaijani territory. On May 8, 2002, in agreement with a group of individuals, he took captive Mamedov Ilham Yusif oglu in the area of the village of Alkhanli, Fizuli region, keeping him in captivity until November 19, as well as subjecting other Azerbaijanis to numerous tortures on national hatred grounds at the military unit located in Fizuli.

On November 8, 2006, a decision was made to involve Lyova Mnatsakanyan as a suspect under Article 113 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, and on November 14 of the same year, a relevant court decision was made to select preventive measures in the form of detention and he was declared internationally wanted through Interpol.

This year, on September 29, Mnatsakanyan was arrested while attempting to cross into Armenia at the Lachin checkpoint and handed over to the investigation. He has been charged under the aforementioned article,” the statement reads.