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The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) believes that there are “white dots” in the story of Azerbaijani saboteur Dilgam Asgarov, who is imprisoned in the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR).

When asked by Azerbaijani journalists about the situation of Asgarov, who also holds Russian citizenship, Artem Kozhin, Deputy Head of the Russian MFA Information and Press Department, said the MFA “consistently protects the legitimate rights of its citizens.”

At the same time, however, he noted that there were many issues regarding Asgarov.

“As you know, the Karabakh conflict zone is among those areas which Russian Federation citizens are recommended to refrain from visiting,” noted Kozhin. “Nonetheless, in principle we are against criminalizing journalists, or people’s, peaceful visits to this or that area.

“As to Asgarov specifically, it should be noted that he (and later, [Israeli Russian blogger and journalist Alexander] Lapshin) disregarded the MFA’s aforesaid recommendation. Since Russian authorities can’t oversee their citizens’ visits abroad, there are ‘white dots’ for us in this story. So, we don’t know whether Baku knew about this Russian citizen’s visiting the conflict zone. But the fact is that after Asgarov’s arrest in Nagorno-Karabakh, we received the copy of his Russian passport from the Azerbaijan authorities.

“Similarly, I can’t confidently assert that Asgarov was encouraged to violate the Russian MFA recommendation. But he somehow crossed the carefully kept ‘line of contact,’ no?

“If the Azerbaijani media are sincerely concerned about the fate Asgarov, first and foremost, they need to stop the propaganda uproar around his case.”

Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev (born in 1968), Dilgam Asgarov (born in 1960), and Hasan Hasanov—who was killed by the Armenian armed forces while rendering these saboteurs ineffective—had illegally crossed the NKR state border 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 Karabakh citizen Smbat Tsakanyan, 17, 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 Asgarov, on the other hand, were detained, and they faced trial in the NKR.

Asgarov 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.

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 sentenced Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev to life and 22 years, respectively, in prison.

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