The Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan has made a decision on the case of Bakhtiyar Shikhiyev, accused of participating in illegal armed groups in Syria. As reported by APA, the court partially satisfied the appeal against the sentence handed down to him.
B. Shikhiyev’s sentence, which was envisaged to be 10 years in prison, was reduced to 7 years in prison.
The Sabail District Court made a decision on the ongoing criminal case against Ruben Vardanyan, which is being investigated by the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan, oxu.az reports. The preventive measure in the form of arrest has been extended for the so-called “state minister” of the former separatist regime Ruben Vardanyan.
Ruben Vardanyan (born in 1968) was detained in Karabakh last year and taken to Baku. He is charged under Articles 214-1 (financing terrorism), 279.3 (participation in the creation and activities of armed formations or groups not provided for by law) and 318.1 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Recall that earlier the BBC and other foreign media outlets published extensive investigative materials exposing the mechanisms of Ruben Vardanyan’s money laundering and his other actions in different countries.
5,630 of more than 6,700 people wanted by the police were detained in Azerbaijan in the first nine months of 2024, oxu.az reports with reference to a collegial meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It is noted that 158 criminal groups consisting of 390 people suspected of committing serious and especially serious crimes were neutralized.
