POLITICS
So-called "trial" for hostages in occupied territory of Azerbaijan has no legal basis
Baku, December 30, AZERTAC
The so-called "trial", organized in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as the verdict, have no legal basis, acting spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said.
He was commenting on the information spread by the Armenian media about the completion of the so-called "trial" related to Azerbaijani hostages Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev.
“Asgarov and Guliyev were taken hostage by the Armenian armed forces when they visited the graves of their parents in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, but Hasan Hasanov was brutally killed,” he said.
"By violating the commitments undertaken as part of the European Convention on Human Rights, the international humanitarian law, the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as violating the obligations as part of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Armenia is responsible for taking civilians hostage, torture against them and organizing a fake "trial" for them,” Hajiyev said.
“Armenia violates human rights grossly, systematically and massively,” he said. “The international institutions and the public must urge Armenia to immediately release Asgarov and Guliyev, as well as to deliver a report on the fate of more than 4,000 missing Azerbaijanis.”
"The international community must also pay due attention to protecting the rights of more than one million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons deprived of their rights as a result of Armenian aggression," Hajiyev said.
He said that the contacts with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen and international organizations will continue to release Asgarov and Guliyev.
Dilgam Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment, but Shahbaz Guliyev was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the statement says.