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Azerbaijani group flies to Moscow to interrogate Russian businessman

1 September 2015 16:20 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijani group flies to Moscow to interrogate Russian businessman

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan has been following the case of Russian businessman German Sterligov, who moved with his family to the Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region in summer without requesting permission from Azerbaijan.

An operational investigative group, composed of employees from the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office and Interior Ministry, departed for Moscow to interrogate Russian businessman German Sterligov, the law enforcement bodies said on September 1 in a joint message.

Sterligov and his family members illegally reside on Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia, which put them on Azerbaijan’s list of undesirable persons.

Sterligov was declared a wanted by the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office on July 28. The businessman is being charged under the Article 281.2 (open calls against the state) and Article 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of Azerbaijan).

Sterligov was on August 31 detained at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, the Russian news agency Interfax said earlier, citing the businessman’s lawyer.

The lawyer added that the detention was carried out by transport police officers at Domodedovo.

Sterligov’s lawyer also said he supposes that the detention was related to Azerbaijan’s international arrest warrant for Sterligov.

After midnight, Sterligov was temporarily released under the condition that he not leaves Russia.

The businessman’s lawyer told BBC News on July 6 that Sterligov left Russia and went to Nagorno-Karabakh. Sterligov put up his livestock and vehicle fleet for sale before leaving.

Moreover, in order to popularize the separatist regime internationally, Sterligov held a press conference in Shusha last July. He also posted information in social networks to support the “independence” of the separatist regime in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, thereby calling for a violation of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territorial integrity, the illegal use of natural resources from the occupied lands, money laundering, and so on.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan are considered illegal and individuals who pay such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's black list.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats against unauthorized visits to territories under Armenian occupation, stating that such visits violate international law.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian, and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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