Mr. Elkhan Suleymanov, member of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE and Member of Parliament from Shamakhi, submitted a motion for resolution on ensuring the right of Russian citizen Dilgam Asgarov and Azerbaijani citizen Shahbaz Guliyev to fair trial was submitted to PACE Secretariat. It should be noted that D.Asgarov and Sh.Guliyev were taken hostage by Armenian forces and sentenced to imprisonment by “court of first instance” of “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, the unrecognized separatist regime established in our territories occupied by Armenia.

 He stressed: “This motion is the only way to protect the rights of our countrymen within PACE. According to RoP, the motion shall be included in the agenda after being signed by 20 MPs representing at least 5 member states. And the fact that the motion tabled by me was signed by 46 MPs representing 23 member states out of 47 member states proves that justice is on the side of these innocent men.”

 Mr. Suleymanov reminded that Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev hadn’t actually committed any crime and any illegal act. They were taken hostage by Armenian forces, while visiting their native region, the occupied Kalbajar province of Azerbaijan in June of 2014, and the other Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov was shot and killed, his body being handed over afterwards for burial to the Azerbaijani side. These territories legally belong to Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijani citizens are entitled to move freely within the borders of the country.

 This is Armenia, who committed a crime. This state has been occupying Azerbaijani territories for 22 years, which contradicts the principles of international law. On the other hand, according to principles of international law, aggressor Armenia should hold an international and legal responsibility not only before Azerbaijan, but generally, before the world community. Apparently, this is the Armenian side, which committed a crime by taking hostage D.Asgarov and Sh.Guliyev and killing Hasan Hasanov, not Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, who wanted to visit their native region.

 Elkhan Suleymanov stated that “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, the unrecognized separatist regime established in the territories occupied by Armenia, was not recognized by any state and international organization, thus, this “entity” is illegitimate and unrecognized separatist and political entity in essence. Therefore, its “court” is also illegitimate, and this illegitimate “court” “sentenced” D. Asgarov and Sh. Guliyev to lifetime and 22 years imprisonment respectively. Thus, this judgement is also illegal, that’s why the motion for resolution highlights that “The “court” that pronounced the two sentences has neither the legal recognition from a judicial authority of any state, as it was established by an unrecognized separatist political entity, nor does it adhere to the fundamental principles that govern the proceedings of a court of law, as it lacks the oversight and guiding rules derived from that unrecognized separatist political entity being a signatory of international treaties that guarantee either human rights or the rule of law.”

 According to Mr. Suleymanov, D.Asgarov and Sh.Guliyev were obviously illegally detained, and their trial is false. Therefore, one of the goals of our motion is to expose and inform the international community about a game of arbitrary court prepared by separatist regime established by aggressor Armenia.

Therefore, the motion calls on all parties directly involved in the illegal detention and prosecution of both D.Asgarov and Sh.Guliyev to immediately release and ensure the respect of the basic human and legal rights of the detained men.

 “The goal of the motion is to achieve that the rights and freedoms of our countrymen, who were subject to terror by separatists, are restored on the framework of international organizations”, Elkhan Suleymanov told.

 Elkhan Suleymanov stressed: “This is a very difficult mission, as my motions for resolution on “Civilians of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water” regarding humanitarian catastrophe of Sarsang and “Escalation of tension in Nagorno Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan” in PACE were seriously prevented by anti-Azerbaijani territories in PACE Secretariat, Bureau, and Presidential Committee, and finally, rapporteurs on motions were appointed in PACE Social and Political Committees after almost 2 years’ struggle. I don’t suppose that this motion will be resolved more easily than the previous ones. This is an intense struggle, but I persist on the realization of this motion.”