The judicial farce in the "criminal case" of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) resident Vagif Khachatryan, who is abducted by Azerbaijanis, is coming to an end.

At Tuesday's court session in Azerbaijani capital Baku, "state prosecutor Mughadas Sultanov announced that the charges against Khachatryan were confirmed and demanded a 15-year prison sentence," Azerbaijani media report.

Accordingly, Khachatryan must spend five years of this term in prison, and the rest—in a high-security correctional facility.

Today’s “trial” will continue until 2pm.

"In his speech, the prosecutor explained the reason why he demanded 15 years for Vagif Khachatryan. He was charged with genocide, crimes against peace, and the maximum punishment for this is life imprisonment. However, the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan prohibits life imprisonment for people over the age of 65. As Vagif Khachatryan is older than 65 years old, it is impossible to sentence him to life imprisonment," added the Azerbaijani media.

Vagif Khachatryan, a participant in the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in the early 1990s, was abducted by the Azerbaijanis this summer while crossing the Lachin corridor into Armenia—and being accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Azerbaijani authorities accuse Khachatryan of committing serious crimes for participating in combat operations. Despite these obviously illegal actions by Azerbaijan, including the abducting of a person under the protection of the ICRC, Khachatryan was not only not released, but is standing trial.

A total of 59 people are considered "victims" in this fabricated case, and all of them have "recognized" Khachatryan and spoken about his "crimes."

Vagif Khachatryan, however, has pleaded not guilty to the charge against him, and stated that he did not participate in any crimes against Azerbaijanis.

It is noteworthy that this resident and citizen of Nagorno-Karabakh is presented by Azerbaijan as a citizen of Armenia.