The court hearing of the Azerbaijani intelligence-gathering sabotage team should not be turned into a political show.

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR; Artsakh) Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan told the above-said to Artsakhpress.

“The objective of the trial is to determine how the crime was committed and to hand down a corresponding sentence to the perpetrators. I am convinced that the court ruling will be objective and fair.

“This is a judicial process, and it can not be used for political purposes,” the minister stated, in particular.

In Mirzoyan’s words, the NKR authorities are doing everything possible to ensure an open and impartial judicial process and, if they wish, the representatives of relevant international organizations also may take part in this process.

The court hearing of the criminal case is in progress at the NKR capital city Stepanakert seat of the NKR First Instance General Jurisdiction Court.

According to the NKR Police, Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev (born in 1968), Dilham Askerov (born in 1960), and Hasan Hasanov, who was shot by law enforcement agents at the spot, illegally crossed the state border of Karabakh armed with a weapon and ammunition on June 29. The three entered the territory of the Shahumyan region of Karabakh as enemy spies to collect information and carry out espionage tasks.

On July 4, they kidnapped and murdered the citizen of Karabakh, 17-year-old Smbat Tsakanyan, whose body was found on July 15 with gunshot wounds in the forest at Shahumyan region. In addition, in the evening of July 11, on Vardenis-Karvachar highway Hasanov killed the resident of Yerevan Sargis Abrahamyan (born in 1971), and severely wounded the resident of Armenian Dzoraghbyur village Karine Davtyan.

Hasanov was armed and resisted during the arrest; as a result, he was neutralized by the NKR special forces. The two others, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilham Askerov, were arrested and detained.

Dilham Askerov is charged with espionage; unauthorized border trespass; kidnapping and violence against a minor, committed by an organized group; murder committed by an organized group motivated by ethnic hatred; and attempt of murder of two persons, committed by an organized group, motivated by ethnic hatred. Shahbaz Guliyev is charged with espionage; unauthorized border trespass; kidnapping and violence against a minor, committed by an organized group; and murder committed by an organized group motivated by ethnic hatred.