Arkadi Ghukasyan
Arkadi Arshaviri Ghukasyan (; born 22 June 1957) is an Artsakhi politician who served as the second President of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. He was elected as the President on 8 September 1997 and re-elected in 2002, until his term ended on 7 September 2007 and was succeeded by Bako Sahakyan. He was detained by Azerbaijani forces after the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and is currently facing criminal charges in Azerbaijan. Biography 

He survived an assassination attempt in 2000. Samvel Babayan, whom he had recently sacked as defence minister, was convicted of organising the attack and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Babayan was released from imprisonment on 18 September 2004 due to health concerns, with the terms of release including a probationary period and continued disenfranchisement. In 2015, it was reported that Ghukasyan was the unofficial leader of the Artsakh Republican Party. On 3 October 2023, Ghukasyan and two other former presidents of Artsakh, Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, together with former president of the National Assembly Davit Ishkhanyan, were detained by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan and brought to Baku. Ghukasyan and the other arrested former officials are reportedly facing "grave criminal charges" in Azerbaijan. Personal life 
He has divorced once and remarried. References

External links
 Official website (in Russian and Armenian)
Regions and territories: Nagorno-Karabakh

1957 births
Living people
People from Stepanakert
Heroes of Artsakh
Presidents of the Republic of Artsakh
Prisoners and detainees of Azerbaijan