Azerbaijan's appeal to OSCE Minsk Group provokes response of Nagorno-Karabakh

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for Azerbaijan called on the OSCE Minsk Group to put pressure on Yerevan and Stepanakert to release Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov, sentenced in Nagorno-Karabakh. The men were sentenced for kidnapping and killing a teenager, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Nagorno-Karabakh reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that two Azerbaijani citizens, Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov, were detained in 2014. They were accused of illegally crossing the border of Nagorno-Karabakh, spying, storing ammunition, kidnapping and killing a teenager, killing an officer of the Armenian army, and stealing. The defendants rejected the charges of murder and espionage and pleaded partially guilty to other accusations. The court sentenced Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov to 22 years of imprisonment and life sentence, respectively.

At present, the Azerbaijani MFA makes all efforts to release Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov, the Azerbaijani diplomats report.

Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov committed grave and especially grave crimes, and the trial in their case fully complied with the international standards of justice, reported Ani Sargsyan, the press secretary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to Ani Sargsyan, by appealing to international organizations in seeking assistance in the release of Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov, Baku officials demonstrate "diminishing the rights of residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the right to life."

Earlier, the Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ruled out the possibility of the release or exchange of Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov.