On June 30, during the ongoing trial at the Baku Military Court, defendant Arayik Harutyunyan revealed that the "defense minister" of the illegal organization established in the territories of Azerbaijan once occupied by the Armenian armed forces was awarded the rank of lieutenant general by the President of Armenia in 2020, Report informs.
He said that the so-called regime's "army" (meaning the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia - ed.) did not have the authority to make such a decision and added: "Jalal Harutyunyan was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General by the President of the Republic of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian. The president signed this order upon the presentation of the prime minister." The accused also said that the so-called organization did not have a military police, a military prosecutor's office, and a military court to try war crimes: "The military police is a structure of the Armenian armed forces. The military prosecutor's office also operated within the Armenian Prosecutor's Office. I think that general court proceedings were conducted in the Syunik court. In other words, such court proceedings were not conducted in Karabakh."