In a message sent from a prison in Baku, Davit Ishkhanyan, the former speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, said he had no expectations from Azerbaijan's appellate court, but understood that the road to international courts necessarily passes through that stage. He added that he had made the same point during the appeal hearing. The audio recording was published on the Artsakh National Assembly's Facebook page.

"The hardest part is that they throw it in our faces: 'If your authorities are doing nothing and are not interested in your return, what do you expect from international institutions or the court?' That is the situation. There are already reports circulating that the Supreme Court will not accept our case," Ishkhanyan said.

He said he told the appellate court that the proceedings were politically motivated, bore no relation to criminal offenses and were based solely on ethnic identity and national hatred.

He also said that, to this day, the defense lawyers have not received the indictment, the bill of indictment or the court verdict. According to him, only after repeated requests did the judge allow the defense to review the verdict electronically, without providing them with a copy to keep.

"I even said this is not a fabricated case but a patchwork. For example, someone born in 1993 is accused of involvement in military operations in 1991-92 and has been sentenced to 15 years in prison," Ishkhanyan added.

He stressed that he had expressed the same assessment in both the court of first instance and the appellate court, arguing that, in his view, the proceedings constitute a trial directed against the Armenian people and Armenian statehood, pursued with a clear strategy and long-term objectives.

"We are taking patient and purposeful steps and delivering worthy statements. They treat international institutions and the court with sarcasm and contempt," he said.

A court in Baku sentenced Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison.

Former Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan was sentenced to life imprisonment. Former Defense Army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, former first deputy commander Davit Manukyan, former Artsakh Foreign Minister Davit Babayan and former National Assembly Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan also received life sentences. Former Artsakh presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Madat Babayan and Melikset Pashayan were sentenced to 19 years in prison, Garik Martirosyan to 18 years, Davit Alaverdyan and Levon Balayan to 16 years, and Erik Ghazaryan, Gurgen Stepanyan and Vasily Beglaryan to 15 years in prison.