The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Court of Appeal hearing into the case involving Azerbaijani saboteurs Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev has commenced Thursday in the NKR capital city of Stepanakert.

Defendants Askerov and Guliyev, their attorneys Erik Beglaryan and Arkadi Israyelyan, and murdered Smbat Tsakanyan’s legal heir are in the courtroom.

Russian-language translation has been provided for the defendants.

As reported earlier, according to the NKR Police, Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev (born in 1968), Dilham Askerov (born in 1960), and Hasan Hasanov—who was killed by the Armenian armed forces while rendering these saboteurs ineffective—had illegally crossed the state border of Karabakh on June 29, 2014, and they were armed with weapons and ammunition. The three had entered the territory of the Shahumyan Region of Karabakh, and as spies to collect information and carry out espionage.

On July 4, 2014, they had kidnapped and subsequently murdered a Karabakh citizen, 17-year-old Smbat Tsakanyan, whose body was found on July 15, 2014, and with gunshot wounds, in a forest at the Shahumyan Region.

In addition, on the evening of July 11, 2014, Hasanov had killed Armenia capital city Yerevan resident Sargis Abrahamyan (born in 1971), and severely wounded Armenia’s Dzoraghbyur village resident Karine Davtyan, on the Vardenis-Karvachar Highway. Hasanov was armed and he resisted arrest; as a result, he was neutralized by the NKR special forces. Guliyev and Askerov, on the other hand, were detained, and they faced trial in the NKR.

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.