Armenia’s top court upheld a 5.5-year sentence for former Nagorno-Karabakh commander Jalal Harutyunyan over 2020 battlefield failures.

Armenia’s Court of Cassation has upheld a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence for former Nagorno-Karabakh commander Jalal Harutyunyan, rejecting his appeal and finalizing a 2024 conviction tied to military misconduct during the 2020 war. The ruling stems from the October 12, 2020, ambush that led to the deaths of 20 Armenian soldiers and the capture of eight howitzers, with prosecutors alleging Harutyunyan provided flawed command orders. His defense claimed frontline commanders were at fault. The decision ends his attempts to delay sentencing, with relatives of the dead soldiers alleging he sought to evade justice before the statute of limitations expires. The case has drawn political scrutiny, with opposition figures calling it politically driven, while Prime Minister Pashinian blames past leadership for Armenia’s defeat.