The court trial hearings on the criminal case into defendants Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev, the two members of an Azerbaijani intelligence-gathering sabotage team that had infiltrated into the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), came to an end on Wednesday at NKR capital city Stepanakert seat of the NKR First Instance General Jurisdiction Court.

Askerov stated that Hasan Hasanov, the third saboteur who was killed by the Armenian armed forces while rendering the saboteurs ineffective, was an Azerbaijani special services officer.  

Guliyev’s attorney Arkadi Israyelyan told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“When [Armenian soldier Hakob] Injighulyan [who was held captive in Azerbaijan for more than a year, who finally had returned to Armenia on October 2, and who recently returned to military duty] stated that Hasanov had entered the room and come out several times during his interrogation in [the Azerbaijani capital city of] Baku, Askerov literally added, yes, Hasanov was a special service officer, but he had learned about this solely after crossing the NKR border, when disagreements had emerged between him and Hasanov. Incidentally, Askerov stated this several times previously,” the attorney said.             

As reported earlier, Injighulyan gave testimony at Wednesday’s court hearing. He recognized the third member of the aforesaid sabotage team, Hasan Hasanov, as one of individuals who had participated in his interrogation in Baku. First, the repatriated Armenian soldier watched the video recording of his interrogation. Subsequently, he provided trial-related details on his captivity in Azerbaijan. As per Injighulyan, the video camera, which was found in Hasanov’s possession, is the same video camera that was used during his interrogation in an Azerbaijani prison. Looking at Hasanov’s photograph, Injighulyan also stated that Hasanov was present at his interrogation.

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.

The aforesaid court trial had begun on October 27, its hearing phase came to an end on Wednesday, and the phase of judicial arguments will begin on December 12.