The trial against Syrian Arab Republic citizens 46-year-old Muhrab Muhammad al-Shkheri and 33-year-old Yusef Alabet al-Haji began and ended on Monday at the Syunik Province Court of General Jurisdiction presided over by Judge Napoleon Ohanyan.
They were accused of participating in the war launched by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh as militant-terrorists in accordance with three articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia. They were Article 389 (international terrorism), Point 1, Part 1 of Article 34-390 (severe violations of international rights and murder during armed conflict), Point 1, Part 3 of the same article (attacks against civilians or individual civilians), and Part 3 of Article 395 (the participation of mercenaries during armed conflict or military operations). The state prosecutors were Gurgen Hakobyan and Arshak Martirosyan of the RA Central Military Prosecutor’s Office. The interests of the defendants were defended by member of the RA Chamber of Advocates, public defender Mushegh Vardanyan.
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Vardanyan mediated to have the trial take place behind closed doors due to the fact that state secrets may have been revealed. The sides did not oppose the mediation and the court decided to hold the trial in private. According to information available on the “Datalex” system, the Syrian mercenaries were to participate in the military operations against Armenia and Artsakh while receiving $2,000 per month. Even more, the mercenaries were promised a bonus of $100 for the head of every decapitated Armenian they presented. In order to decapitate Armenians and receive bonuses for that, they were provided knives with long blades, which were designated specifically for decapitation. However, Muhrab Muhammad al-Shkeri and Yusef Alabet al-Haji did not carry out their intentions due to the fact that they were neutralized and handed over to the Armenian law enforcement bodies on November 2, 2020, at around 6:00 PM after meeting the resistance of the Armenian Armed Forces near the village of Davit Bek.
The criminal case of the defendants contained only three volumes and two witnesses were called. One of them, Armen Vaghunts, told reporters that the Syrian mercenaries were going to attack their village, but the Armenian side was able to attack. According to the witness, half of the 150-member detachment fled, 7 people were killed, and 2 were wounded. “We captured the wounded and provided them with medical assistance,” the witness said. Armen Vaghunts speaks Azerbaijani and Turkish, so he guessed that the attackers were mercenaries. “First, they were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and second, the mercenary uniforms were different. They were speaking Arabic and we left them alive so we could show the world that Syrian mercenaries are fighting against us,” Vaghunts said. Muhrab Muhammad al-Shkheri was previously convicted in Syria of careless murder with a one-month sentence. He is married and has 3 young children. Yusef Alabet al-Haji has never been convicted. He has 5 young children, the youngest of which is 2.5 months old. “The defendants partially admitted their guilt. They only admitted that they are mercenaries, but they did not agree to the other accusations,” Mushegh Vardanyan told Aravot Daily.
The prosecutors mediated for the two defendants to be sentenced to life in prison. After a trial that lasted around 5.5 hours, the court entered the consultation room. Judge Napoleon Ohanyan came out 27 minutes later and published the sentence. Muhrab Muhammad al-Shkheri and Yusef Alabet al-Haji were sentenced to life in prison by combining the punishments provided by the proposed articles.
“I spoke to them. They were dissatisfied with the sentencing and they want an appeal to be filed with the Court of Appeals,” defender Mushegh Vardanyan said. In his opinion, this trial was unique. “On one hand, there was my patriotism, and on the other was the oath I swore to in my profession. In any case, if the accusation was accepted by the court in accordance with the evidence provided, then, with a combination of these crimes, it was possible to partially add up the sentences and impose the minimum sentence because both of my clients have minor children under 14 years old,” Mushegh Vardanyan said.
Prosecutor Arshak Martirosyan, senior prosecutor of the Investigation Department for the Investigation of Especially Important Cases Against the Military Service of the Central Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia, believes that the accusation has been proven by facts. Otherwise, the case would have been sent back to the preliminary investigation body. “It was also proven in court, and the Court of First Instance agreed with us,” Arshak Martirosyan said.
Armen Davtyan
