Azerbaijani saboteurs Dilham Askerov, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment, has not yet decided whether or not to petition to the Chamber of Appeals of the Supreme Court of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), Askerov’s attorney Erik Beglaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“I told him that I can petition to the Supreme Court, and he responded that he will think [about it] and inform me about his decision,” the attorney said. “I will meet with him before the enactment of the [recent] appellate [court] decision, and discuss this matter.”  

Beglaryan added that the option of making a formal request to the NKR President likewise has not yet been discussed.

As reported earlier, Azerbaijani sabotage and intelligence-gathering team member 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 team member, 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.

On December 29, 2014, the First Instance General Jurisdiction Court of the NKR had sentenced Askerov and Guliyev to life and 22 years, respectively, in prison.

The saboteur’s attorneys, however, had appealed these sentences. And on March 10, the NKR Court of Appeal upheld the earlier court verdict that was reached with respect to Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev.