For 35 years, ethnic Armenians governed themselves in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous enclave inside Azerbaijan's internationally recognized borders. On February 5, 2026, an Azerbaijani military court sentenced 13 former leaders of that self-declared republic—including three ex-presidents—to prison terms ranging from 15 years to life. The charges: war crimes, terrorism, genocide, and crimes against humanity spanning three decades of conflict.
For 35 years, ethnic Armenians governed themselves in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous enclave inside Azerbaijan's internationally recognized borders. On February 5, 2026, an Azerbaijani military court sentenced 13 former leaders of that self-declared republic—including three ex-presidents—to prison terms ranging from 15 years to life. The charges: war crimes, terrorism, genocide, and crimes against humanity spanning three decades of conflict.
The verdicts arrive 28 months after Azerbaijan's September 2023 military offensive ended the conflict in 24 hours, triggering an exodus of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians—99% of the population—and erasing the self-declared Republic of Artsakh from existence. The trial represents Azerbaijan's effort to write the legal record of a territorial dispute that killed tens of thousands. For Armenia, the imprisoned men are political prisoners; for Azerbaijan, they are war criminals finally facing justice.