The “trial” in the "criminal case" against detained Armenian man Gagik Voskanyan was held in Azerbaijan Thursday.

The verdict was read after the court session, APA reports.

And the court sentenced Voskanyan to 18 years in prison.

The Azerbaijani side presents him as a "saboteur." On August 16, it announced that there was a sabotage infiltration attempt in the direction of Kelbajar, but they managed to stop it by using firearms and arrest Voskanyan. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Armenia, however, denied this accusation and said it was an absolute lie.

Earlier, however, when the Azerbaijani side had not reported anything about this incident, the Armenian MoD had announced that according to preliminary data, Armenian reservist Voskanyan had abandoned his combat position.

The Armenian side informed in the summer that they are examining the possible scenario and all the circumstances of this Armenian reservist ending up on the Azerbaijani side.

During the following four months, however, the Armenian side did not provide any additional clarifications. So far, the state agencies do not say how Gagik Voskanyan had ended on the Azerbaijani side.