Remember their stories, fight for their freedom!
Davit Manukyan is an Armenian military officer holding the rank of Major General. He was born on 15 October 1971 in Jermuk, then part of the Armenian SSR. From 1992 to 2022, he held various command and staff positions within the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and the Defense Army of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh. He served as First Deputy Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army before retiring from military service in 2022.
On 27 September 2023, Davit Manukyan was captured by Azerbaijani authorities at the Hakari Bridge checkpoint, established following Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor. He is currently in preventive detention and is being tried before the Baku Military Court alongside 14 other Armenian citizens. He faces numerous charges under Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, including allegations of genocide, mercenarism, and terrorism.
According to open sources from Azerbaijani media, Manukyan made statements during several court hearings in 2025. At the hearing on 6 March 2025, he reportedly stated that he was a career military officer who had served in Armenia and fought against Azerbaijani forces during the First and Second Nagorno-Karabakh Wars. He clarified that during the First Karabakh War he held no formal service position, and that during the Second Karabakh War he was responsible for operational planning. He also stated that he retired from military service in December 2021 and formally handed over his position in January 2022.
Read also
At later hearings, Manukyan requested that only the testimony he gave during the court proceedings be considered, rather than his preliminary investigation statements. On 31 October 2025, he stated that he disagreed with several charges, requested that the accusation of creating a criminal organization be dropped, and asked that his case be separated from the collective proceedings. The court rejected these requests.
At the hearing on 13 November 2025, the prosecution asked the court to sentence Davit Manukyan to life imprisonment.
