Azerbaijan files criminal case against Armenians over deliberate forest fires in Karabakh

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General’s Office has launched a criminal case against the forest fires in Karabakh, Azernews reports, citing the agency.

According to the agency, videos and photos depicting the burning of forests and residential houses in Lachin, Khojaly, and other regions of Azerbaijan, using various combustible materials and substances in order to damage the ecosystem by polluting the ecological environment have been published on a number of media and social network pages.

The investigation department of the Prosecutor-General's Office has immediately started investigations linked to the published information and took appropriate procedural actions in order to determine those who committed the crimes, the agency added.

The preliminary investigations determined that those fire incidents were committed in Azerbaijan’s Lachin and Khojaly districts and that the fires were localized and prevented from spreading to the surrounding areas in a short period of time.

In connection with the aforementioned cases, a criminal case has been initiated by the investigation department under Articles 282.1 (sabotage) and 186.2.2 (deliberate destruction or damage to the property by burning or other generally dangerous methods) of the Criminal Code and urgent investigative actions are currently being carried out.

“All appropriate measures will be taken to identify and prosecute persons, who have committed ecological terror by deliberately destroying forests with perennial trees, which are a natural resource, and grossly violating the requirements of the Convention on the Protection of Wildlife and the Natural Environment in Europe," the statement read.