NKR's CoA to announce verdict in case against Dilkham Askerov and Shakhbaz Guliev on March 10

In the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), the Court of Appeal (CoA) intends to announce on March 10 the decision on the appeal against the verdict of the court of first instance against Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov, citizens of Azerbaijan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 29, 2014, in Stepanakert, the court sentenced Dilkham Askerov to life imprisonment, and Shakhbaz Guliev to 22 years of imprisonment. They were accused of illegal crossing of the border of the NKR, espionage, possession of ammunition, kidnapping and murder of a teenager, murder of an officer of the Armenian Army, and theft. The defendants denied the charges of murder and espionage, and they partly admitted their guilt on the other charges. On January 29, the defence appealed against the verdict.

The Azerbaijani authorities believe Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov became hostages. Azerbaijani advocates sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) a complaint about violation of rights of Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov.

According to Arkady Israelyan, an advocate of Shakhbaz Guliev, the defence has filed a complaint in connection with the disagreement with the verdict announced by the court of first instance.

In his turn, prosecutor Karen Gabrielyan has stated the investigators revealed that a bullet in the body of murdered Tsakanyan was shot out of the submachine gun of Dilkham Askerov.

The prosecutor has noted that during the proceedings in the court of first instance, all the materials proving guilt of Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov were presented during the trial.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.