The Azerbaijani saboteurs had infiltrated into the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), committed murders, and confessed at court, NKR MP Vahram Atanesyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Atanesyan stated the aforesaid commenting on the call by Victoria Nuland, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, for making a humanitarian gesture and releasing these saboteurs.      

“First, I invite Ms. Nuland to Nagorno-Karabakh so that the NKR competent authorities present this matter to her, since the NKR is a country of law (…). Second, I invite Ms. Nuland to Nagorno-Karabakh so she may hold talks with these men [i.e., the Azerbaijani saboteurs],” the MP said.    

In his words, these saboteurs have petitioned to the NKR Court of Appeal to appeal their sentences.

“That is, these men have confessed to the jurisdiction of the NKR judiciary,” he added.      

As per Atanesyan, these Azerbaijani saboteurs had carried out a terrorist attack against the NKR.  

“Under the current situation, I just don’t think it’s appropriate to speak about humanitarian relations. I myself am in favor of having normal relations between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan. But Azerbaijan needs to establish these normal relations on the Line of Contact, first,” Vahram Atanesyan concluded.

As reported earlier, Azerbaijani saboteur Dilham Askerov was 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. The other Azerbaijani saboteur, Shahbaz Guliyev, was 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.

And on December 29, 2014, the First Instance General Jurisdiction Court of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic had sentenced Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev to life and 22 years, respectively, in prison. The saboteur’s attorneys, however, have appealed these sentences.