The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has refused to consider on a priority basis the appeal of the Azerbaijani citizens Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev, who are in captivity in Armenia.

The Azerbaijani representative at ECHR, head of the sector for the protection of the human rights department on work with the law-enforcement agencies under the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Chingiz Askerov, announced the aforementioned, Trend reports.

However, the court refused to consider the appeal in the order of precedent. According to Askerov, this “is indicative of its non-objectivity.”

He also added that the Azerbaijani government addressed the ECHR over this issue, but hasn’t received an answer yet.

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 sentenced Askerov and Guliyev to life and 22 years, respectively, in prison.

The saboteur’s attorneys, however, had appealed these sentences. But on March 10, the NKR Court of Appeal upheld the earlier court verdict.

So, the attorneys of Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev had appealed, at the NKR Supreme Court, the rulings handed down by the two previous tribunals.