The Court of Appeal of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) on Tuesday upheld the earlier court verdict that was reached with respect to Azerbaijani sabotage and intelligence-gathering team members Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev.

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

As reported earlier, 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. Shahbaz Guliyev, on the other hand, 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 Askerov and Guliyev to life and 22 years, respectively, in prison.

The saboteur’s attorneys, however, had appealed these sentences.