General Jalal Harutyunyan to be imprisoned 

ArmInfo. On September 26, the RA Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of former Artsakh Defense Army Commander Lieutenant General Jalal Harutyunyan and his lawyer, Ashot Apresyan, against the June 18, 2025, decision of the RA Criminal Court of Appeals.

The verdict has entered into force. Jalal Harutyunyan will serve his sentence in the appropriate penal institution.

As a reminder, the appellant requested that the trial court's guilty  verdict of January 15, 2025, the verdict of February 7, 2025, and the  Court of Appeal's ruling of June 18, 2025 be overturned, leaving them  unchanged and issuing an acquittal. Alternatively, the lower courts'  rulings be overturned and the case remitted to the appropriate lower  court for a new trial, with the scope of the new trial determined.

The Court of Cassation found that the Court of Appeal had committed  no violations of criminal procedure law that could have affected the  outcome of the trial or undermined the very essence of justice.

As a reminder, the Syunik Court of General Jurisdiction found Jalal  Harutyunyan guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 376  of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (corresponding to  Part 3 of Article 550 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of  Armenia), adopted on April 18, 2003, and sentenced him to  imprisonment for 5 (five) years and 6 (six) months. The appellate  court upheld the decision of the court of first instance.

Article 550 of the Criminal Code pertains to official negligence,  Section 3 of which states: "Failure to perform or improper  performance of official duties by a commander (chief) or official,  resulting from a dishonest or negligent attitude toward the  performance of their official duties, committed under martial law,  war, or combat, or resulting in the death of a person through  negligence, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to  ten years."

Specifically, the court found Jalal Harutyunyan guilty of the death  of 20 servicemen of the Tsori military unit near the village of  Juvarlu in the Fuzuli direction on October 12 during the 44-day war  of 2020, who were surrounded by Azerbaijani troops and killed due to  an incorrect order.

According to law enforcement agencies, the servicemen were targeted  by the enemy due to erroneous information from the command, including  Harutyunyan and the army's chief of artillery, Gennady Baghdasaryan.  Twenty servicemen were killed, seven wounded, and the military unit  came under Azerbaijani control. The soldiers were told that a group  of soldiers approaching them were "friendly" troops. In reality, it  turned out to be an Azerbaijani sabotage group disguised in Armenian  uniforms. The parents of the deceased servicemen claimed that Jalal  Harutyunyan was abusing his rights by attempting to delay the case  until the statute of limitations expires and he is released from  prison. The statute of limitations expires in a few days, on October  12.