According to Karen Ohanjanyan, their goal was to collect data on Nagorno-Karabakh security and to collapse the national security syastem
Recently, the official Baku has pretty intensified the issue of the two Azerbaijani subversives. In June 29, 2014, the Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilham Askerov, as well as the killed Hasan Hasanov, armed with weapons, had illegally crossed the NKR state border and penetrated the Shahumyan region of Armenia for the purpose of intelligence operations. These individuals had a special mission to gather information and conduct intelligence operations. On July 4, with the help of the use of a weapon, they kidnapped NKR minor Smbat Tsakanyan, whose body was found with gunshot wounds on July 15. On December 29, the Court of First Instance Court of the city of Stepanakert issued the verdict against Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov. Askerov was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Guliyev – to 22 years in prison for spying, crossing the NK state border without proper authorization, illegal carrying of firearms and ammunition, evident kidnapping of a person and the murder.
These saboteurs were the first who after the declared independence were subjected to judicial proceedings in Karabakh by the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction. The official Stepanakert periodically reports that their trial was held in accordance with international laws, open and transparent, and they had lawyers.
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Azerbaijan, obviously, is working with the OSCE Minsk Group mediator countries through diplomatic channels to return the Azerbaijani subversives. Still in January this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was summing up the Russian diplomatic year for 2014, and during the press conference, an Azerbaijani reporter asked him about the fate of Askerov, noting that allegedly he is a citizen of the Russian Federation. Lavrov’s answer was obvious that he actually did not know whom the subject was about. He noted that since he was arrested by the Armenian side, therefore, they will discuss the issue with the Armenian side. “As you said, he was arrested by the Armenian side. In this case, we will discuss the matter with the Armenian side. We have not few number of citizens who are arrested in different countries of the world. We are always interested in their fate.”
Basically, Lavrov was not aware that a few months ago, the Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin had sent a letter to Milli Majlis Vice-Speaker Bahar Muradova, in which he stated that there are no RF citizens among the Azerbaijani captives by Armenians. Later on, the US State Department official representative Jen Psaki has addressed this topic. “We also urged relevant authorities to return the two prisoners to the Government of Azerbaijan. The sides have generally found a way in the past to return prisoners as a humanitarian gesture, and such humanitarian gestures have been shown to reduce tensions and build trust between the sides.” Then US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland raised the issue of returning Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov.
Winner of international prizes for human rights and peace, Coordinator of the Nagorno-Karabakh Committee “Helsinki Initiative-92”, President of “Social Justice” party Karen Ohanjanyan, on March 31, visited the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, D. Askerov and Sh. Guliyev, detained in one of the detention cells of the NKR National Security Service, who are convicted of killing a citizen of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and conducting intelligence activities in the Karvachar region, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. “The inspection of the detention cell, sanitary conditions, medical services, quality of food, as well as the availability of information and literature was studied. We talked to each convicted individually for about 3 hours, during which they expressed their satisfaction with the conditions. The examination showed that the convicted D. Askerov’s and Sh. Guliyev’s conditions are in full compliance with international law, and the NKR government authorities do everything to prevent any violation of the norm,” said the statement issued by K. Ohanjanyan.
“Aravot” was interested to learn for Karen Ohanjanyan about how he treats the official Baku’s actions to return the Azerbaijani subversives. “Each state’s duty is to protect its citizens’ interests by all means. Azerbaijani posture is quite logical and understandable. The posture of our government authorities and the majority of our society is also logical and clear understandable that they refuse returning the Azerbaijani convicted citizens to Baku, moreover, that the Azerbaijani citizens have been found guilty of the NKR minor and for conducting sabotage and espionage activities against our country. Their actions were directed against humanity and were a threat to the maintenance of security of NKR citizens,” noted K. Ohanjanyan.
In response to our question of under what conditions the saboteurs, first time convicted in NKR and detained in one of the detention cells of the NKR National Security Service, are today in the prison, Karen Ohanjanyan replied, “It is worth mentioning that the leadership of the NKR National Security Service held pretty much responsibility for ensuring conditions in compliance with international laws for the Azerbaijani convicted citizens kept in the detention cell. We mentioned in the statement after visiting them that everything starting from the cell – sanitary conditions, medical services, quality of food, as well as the availability of information and literature is fully in line with the norms of international law. As a human rights activist, one of my employment duties was to visit numerous people kept in prison around the world, and with full responsibility, I can record the fact that the conditions of the Azerbaijani detainees in Nagorno-Karabakh in no way yield the conditions of the detainees in many developed countries.”
Obviously, the Azerbaijan government authorities are working on the return of the Azerbaijani subversives through the OSCE Minsk Group countries. We asked the Karabakh-resident human right activist whether it is possible that the Armenian side, the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, however, would be forced to return them, K. Ohanjanyan noted, “I do not think that as of today, conditions are created, under which it is possible to return the Azerbaijani citizens convicted in our territory to Azerbaijan. We should not forget that the convicted are not prisoners of war, but the subversives whose goal was to collect data on the security of NKR and to collapse the national security syastem. Their activities were aimed at reducing the level of security for our citizens, and along with it, their actions carried criminal terroristic character. Therefore, I do not think that the international organizations should draw such conditions to the NKR government authorities pertaining to the return of the saboteurs to Azerbaijan. Although I do not exclude that at some moment, the NKR leadership might demonstrate a gesture of goodwill. I also would like to mention that it would be more logical if the Azerbaijan leadership would personally apply to the Nagorno-Karabakh government authorities regarding the fate of its citizens.”
Recently, in the interview with Yerkir.am, the NKR President’s spokesman David Babayan suggested handing over Safarov to the Armenian side. “Perhaps, it will make a new turning point in the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict settlement process. Why would anyone say to hand over Safarov to the Armenian side? Half-jokingly and half-serious, they say, maybe we can exchange one of these subversives with Safarov, maybe this exchange will be an option for the development of an atmosphere of mutual trust or a concession.” To the question of whether it is possible that the situation will be so serious that the NKR authorities would actually demand Safarov in return to Azerbaijani subversives, “I do not think that David Babayan was serious when talking about it, and hardly such a thing is possible,” said the Karabakh-origin human rights activist.
Emma GABRIELYAN
