Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Baku has said the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh regime has no legal basis to put on trial Azerbaijani citizens, detained in occupied territories three months ago.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement following the Armenian media reports about holding a trial for the Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov.

On July 11, Armenian Special Forces killed Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov and took hostage Guliyev and Asgarov in the Shaplar village of the occupied Kelbajar region. The civilians were visiting the graves of their relatives.

Guliyev and Asgarov are allegedly accused of murdering Armenian teenager among other charges.

The Ministry noted that the rulings of the court under the illegal regime don't have any legal basis.

"Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov, who were visiting the graves of their relatives, were taken hostage and tortured during an illegal investigation, and Hasan Hasanov was brutally murdered by the Armenian military," the Ministry said.

Armenia's actions directly contradict international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention.

The Ministry went on to say that free movement of Azerbaijani citizens on the country's territory can't be prohibited or restricted except for certain cases outlined in Azerbaijan's legislation.

It stressed that the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh regime" was created on Azerbaijan's occupied lands to legally cover the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia. "By occupying Azerbaijani lands, Armenia has grossly violated international norms and principles, the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, for which it must be held accountable," the statement said.

The precarious cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was reached after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis and has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994. Since the hostilities, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled