Who is Behind the Shameful Deal of Handing Over "Ramil Safarov" Type Individuals: Significant Facts

The responsible authorities in Armenia are passing the buck regarding the extradition of Azerbaijani citizens Dilham Askerov, sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage and murder in Karvachar, and Shahbaz Guliyev, sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment for serious crimes. They are placing the responsibility of their extradition solely on the authorities of Artsakh.

In response to a written inquiry from NEWS.am, the Armenian Ministry of Justice's penitentiary service stated that due to the state of war in Artsakh, Azerbaijani convicts Shahbaz Jalal oglu Guliyev and Dilham Gardashkhan oglu Askerov were temporarily transferred to the Republic of Armenia based on a request from the head of the Artsakh police dated October 27, 2020. However, by another letter dated December 7 from the Artsakh police chief, they were transferred back to the jurisdiction of the Artsakh police from the respective penitentiary facility of the RA Ministry of Justice.

The penitentiary service claimed they had no connection to the release or further transfer of the Azerbaijani convicts. It should be noted that the Armenian Prosecutor General's Office was supposed to monitor the legality of the punishment of individuals deprived of their liberty, including Azerbaijani convicts, who were transferred to Armenia due to the war in Artsakh. However, in response to NEWS.am's inquiry, the Prosecutor's Office stated that the Azerbaijani saboteurs had not served their sentence in the penitentiary institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia.

In fact, Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan was apparently unaware that all prisoners held in the "Shushi" penitentiary were transferred to Armenia from the very first day of the war in Artsakh, and no staff member of the Artsakh Prosecutor's Office was dispatched to Armenia to monitor the legality of the punishment.

The individuals incarcerated in Artsakh were solely under the control of the competent authorities of Armenia. The Prosecutor's Office simultaneously clarified that according to Armenian legislation, the transfer of persons with the status of convicts is outside the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor General's Office and that the issue of the extradition of Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev had not been discussed in the Prosecutor's Office. Earlier, a representative of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia had claimed that the court does not discuss the issue of the transfer (extradition) of convicts.

"In general, any transfer of a convict to Armenia is carried out only with the agreement of the convict and the state enforcing the punishment, and through a recognition process of the court decision made against them, after which the corresponding request for the transfer of the convict must be made by the other party, as outlined in the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons from 1983. Such a request was absent, therefore the competent body of Armenia did not make such a decision," explained Lusine Martirosyan, head of the information and public relations department of the Ministry of Justice.

In essence, neither the Ministry of Justice, nor the Prosecutor's Office, nor the penitentiary service seemed to be aware of the extradition process of Azerbaijani saboteurs sentenced for particularly serious crimes and held in Armenia for a long time. Meanwhile, according to reliable information obtained by NEWS.am, the "documentation" for the extradition of Azerbaijani saboteurs has been carried out by the Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan under the instruction of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the verdict of the court of general jurisdiction of Artsakh dated December 29, 2014, legitimizing the saboteurs, was confirmed by Arthur Mkrtchyan, head of the first instance court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan.

It is noteworthy that until now, only the President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan has addressed the motivations for the extradition of the two Azerbaijani saboteurs, stating merely that the decision for their extradition was taken after comprehensive discussions with the parents of the deceased Smbat Tsakanian to obtain their consent. "This responsible decision has contributed not only to the return of the first group of prisoners but will also ensure the return of subsequent groups to their homeland," he stated.

DURING this time, NEWS.am attempted to contact the office of the President of Artsakh to clarify the legal basis for the extradition process of the saboteurs, but no official from Artsakh answered our calls.

While Armenian law enforcement agencies are trying to offload the responsibility for the extradition of the "Ramil Safarovs," and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan assures the public that the exchange of prisoners will occur based on the principle of "everyone for everyone," the military court in Baku is detaining Armenian citizen Lyudvig Mkrtchyan captured during military operations in Artsakh, accusing him of torturing Azerbaijani prisoners during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

It is recalled that by the verdict of the court of general jurisdiction of Artsakh dated December 29, 2014, Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev were found guilty of espionage, illegally crossing the protected state border of the Republic of Artsakh with an organized group, illegally carrying weapons and military ammunition by an organized group, openly kidnapping a person, secretly stealing property, and committing murder by an organized group motivated by national hatred. Dilham Askerov was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Shahbaz Guliyev received a 22-year prison sentence. On December 14, 2020, the Azerbaijani saboteurs convicted of particularly serious crimes were transferred to Azerbaijan.