Dilkham Askerov and Shakhbaz Guliev file appeals to NCR's SC

Advocates of Azerbaijani citizens Dilkham Askerov and Shakhbaz Guliev have challenged the verdict of guilty against their clients at the Supreme Court (SC) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NCR).

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 on charges of illegal crossing of the border of the NKR, espionage, possession of ammunition, kidnapping and murder of a teenager, murder of an Armenian Army officer, and theft. On March 10, the Court of Appeal of NKR upheld the verdict of the first instance court.

The appeals to the NKR SC were filed on April 9. According to Erik Beglaryan, an advocate of Dilkham Askerov, in case if the court dismisses the appeal, it is possible that the convict will request for clemency to the President of NKR.

According to Erik Beglaryan and Arkady Israelyan, Dilkham Askerov and Shakhbaz Guliev feel good, and they did not complain about the conditions of their detention.

The Committee "Helsinki Initiative-92" monitors the conditions of detention of Dilkham Askerov and Shakhbaz Guliev, said Dr. Karen Ogandjanyan, the coordinator of the organization, the prize winner of international awards in the field of human rights and peace.

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