The Meshali genocide is one of the many crimes committed against the people of Azerbaijan by members of illegal Armenian armed groups, Ismayil Aliyev, the senior assistant of the Military Prosecutor of Azerbaijan, said in the Real Interview program aired on Real TV, Report informs.
According to him, the genocide that took place in the village of Meshali is an episode of numerous genocidal crimes committed against the Azerbaijani people by Armenian armed forces from 1989 to 1992:
"Although a criminal case was initiated in connection with that criminal incident and initial investigative actions were carried out, it was not possible to complete the investigation in combat conditions, but the investigation was successfully continued, and it was determined that Khachatryan Vagif Cherkezovich, together with other members of the illegal Armenian armed group, carried out an armed attack on the population of Meshali village, Khojaly district, killing 25 people, injuring 14, and evicting 358 people from their places of residence without any legal grounds."
Aliyev also said that Vagif Khachatryan's commission of that crime was fully proven by the statements of witnesses and victims.
According to him, in 2013, Vagif Khachatryan was charged under articles 103 and 107 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan as part of the criminal case related to the Meshali genocide, a pretrial detention measure was chosen against him, and he was put on an international wanted list:
"Since then, negotiations have been held with international organizations to search for Khachatryan. On July 29, 2023, Vagif Khachatryan was detained at the Lachin border crossing point of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border by the military personnel of the State Border Service while trying to travel to Armenia under the guise of receiving treatment through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross."