Clockwise from top left: former Artsakh presidents Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakian, Arkady Ghukasian and Parliament Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan

A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced former Artsakh presidents Bako Sahakian and Arakady Ghukasyan, as well as Artsakh Parliament Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan to four-month prison terms.

The three Artsakh officials were arrested earlier this week along with former Artsakh president Arayik Harutyunyan.

The State Security Service of Azerbaijan had posted a video of Harutyunyan’s arrest and interrogation. He has been “charged” under nine articles of the Azerbaijani criminal code. Azerbaijani officials also provided a video depicting the arrests of the other former officials.

Harutyunyan faces charges related to his involvement in “an aggressive war on Azerbaijani territory, recruiting, training, financing mercenaries, and participating in the creation of armed groups not recognized by Azerbaijani law,” according to Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general.

He is also accused of “organizing activities for these groups, supplying them with weapons, ammunition, explosives, military equipment, and conducting preparatory courses. Additionally, Harutyunyan is charged with shelling civilians and civil infrastructure in Ganja city and the Barda region during the 44-day war.”

Harutyunyan has been provided with a public defender named Alov Safaraliev.