Azerbaijani saboteur Dilham Askerov, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), has not expressed a wish to petition to NKR President Bako Sahakyan, with a request to grant him pardon.

Askerov’s attorney, Erik Beglaryan, told about the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“Had he expressed [such] a wish, I would have written the [respective] letter,” Beglaryan said. “But he has not expressed such a wish.”

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, 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.

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

Subsequently, the NKR Courts of Appeal and Cassation upheld this verdict.