Defendant: 'I joined armed group created by Vardanyan'

On September 5, the Baku Military Court heard the testimony of the accused Levon Balayan, given during the preliminary investigation, and other documents related to his criminal case, Report informs.

According to his testimony during the preliminary investigation, Balayan was called up for military service in January 1995 and served as a soldier in military units in Shusha, Khankandi and Khojaly until 1998. During this period, he was issued an AKS74 assault rifle.

The military units in which he served were equipped with heavy T-55, T-72 tanks, and Russian-made BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles. Balayan noted that one of the senior commanders, Levon Mnatsakanyan (the accused, currently in custody - ed.), often visited military units and checked their combat readiness. On September 20, 2020, he was forcibly conscripted into "service" in the "armed forces" by the "Military Commissariat" of the city of Khankandi and fought in the first days of the 44-day war, that is, from September 27 to October 2, as part of an armed formation on the "3rd line of defense" stationed in the village of Sugovushan.

The battalion he served in was called "Alasha." Balayan also stated in his testimony during the preliminary investigation that on May 1, 2023, he joined one of the armed formations created and financed by Ruben Vardanyan in the then occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Since then, he has been receiving a monthly salary of 170,000 drams, or $700, on an "Artsakhbank" card (an Armenian bank - ed.).

He was detained by Azerbaijani servicemen on September 20. It should be noted that the trial of citizens of the Republic of Armenia accused of committing crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, including the preparation and waging of an aggressive war, genocide, violation of the laws and rules of war, as well as terrorism, financing terrorism, violent seizure of power, violent retention of power and many other crimes as a result of Armenia's military aggression continues.