Russian citizen accused by Baku of supporting Armenians in war recruited by Azerbaijani special services

Baku Court of Grave Crimes continued yesterday the trial of Russian citizen Eduard Dubakov on fabricated charges.

Azerbaijan accuses Dubakov of participating in the Artsakh war from the Armenian side and considers him a “mercenary”. At the session, however, a number of remarkable statements were made. According to local media, Dubakov’s pre-investigation testimony was read at this session. In particular, he noted that taking into account the fact that he has Armenian roots — his father is an Armenian — he became interested in the OMA organization in Armenia, which allegedly “trained fighters to fight against the Azeris in Nagorno Karabakh.”

Dubakov came to Armenia in 2018, underwent military training, and later was sent to Shushi, Stepanakert and other regions. In 2019, he visited Armenia and Artsakh again. According to the indictment, on January 14 of this year, he arrived in Baku from Turkey to carry out an alleged terrorist act, but was arrested by Azerbaijani special services. Baku has charged Dubakov with terrorism, financing terrorism, participation in a criminal organization, group, illegal crossing of the state border. He faces up to 15 years in prison. The witnesses who witnessed Dubakov’s arrest were interrogated during the court session. They mentioned that the Russian citizen had a bag with writings in Armenian and Russian, and a telephone. Examination of the documents revealed that as a result of checking the phone, a contact named “Artsakhyan” was found, with whom Dubakov was in contact. Besides, Dubakov called some Artyom, Samir Mirzoyan and Zaryan. During the court session, Dubakov himself denied all the accusations, noting that they were fabricated. Dubakov said that he testified under pressure. He stated that he was recruited by the Azerbaijani special services in Belarus, in 2018 and was told to visit Artsakh on their instructions. According to Dubakov, in January 2021, he was summoned to Baku to get paid, but was arrested.

“In 2018, I was involved in cooperation with the special services of Azerbaijan. Under that cooperation, I was carrying out tasks, I visited Armenia and Karabakh,” Meydan TV quoted Dubakov as saying.

The next court session will take place on July 14. It is also reported that during the investigation the employees of the Russian consular service were allowed to visit Dubakov. In addition, the representatives of the diplomatic mission followed the trial. Kavkazsky Uzel from its parte has tried to get an official comment from the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan, but failed.