Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The International Committee of the Red Cross has visited two ethnic Azerbaijanis who were taken hostage by Armenians in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories last year.

ICRC visited Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, who were taken hostage by Armenian militaries in Azerbaijan’s occupied Kalbajar region, the ICRC Baku Office reported.

Ilaha Huseynova, the head of the Communications Department of the ICRC Baku office, told the local media that the ICRC's visit took place on November 5.

Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev were captured by Armenian special forces in Shaplar village in July 2014, while they were visiting the graves of their relatives. In the same incident, the special forces killed Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov.

Following an expedited “judicial process" last December, Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years.

The Azerbaijani hostages, kept in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, and their families exchanged information through the ICRC representatives.

The ICRC visits the detainees to monitor their treatment and the conditions of their quarters and help ensure that the detainees can maintain contact with their families.

In July, the Azerbaijani ombudsman appealed to the head of the ICRC office in Azerbaijan, Denis Duran, over the torture suffered by Guliyev and Asgarov in prison. A video confirming that Asgarov had been tortured is circulating on social media, showing Asgarov walking with a limp.

Earlier, Elchin Behbudov, chairman of Azerbaijan's Anti-Torture Committee, had appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the World Organization against Torture.

In his appeal, Behbudov called on international organizations to intervene for the early release of the Azerbaijani hostages and to give the case a thorough legal assessment.

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

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