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Ensuring the right of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev to a fair trial

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13709 | 05 February 2015

Signatories:
Mr Elkhan SULEYMANOV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Ms Sirkka-Liisa ANTTILA, Finland, ALDE ; Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Egemen BAĞIŞ, Turkey, EC ; Mr Deniz BAYKAL, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Philippe BLANCHART, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Gerold BÜCHEL, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Ms Katalin CSÖBÖR, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Joseph DEBONO GRECH, Malta, SOC ; Mr Reha DENEMEÇ, Turkey, EC ; Mr Alain DESTEXHE, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Claudio FAZZONE, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Sahiba GAFAROVA, Azerbaijan, EC ; Mr Giuseppe GALATI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Adele GAMBARO, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Karl GARÐARSSON, Iceland, ALDE ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Ingebjørg GODSKESEN, Norway, EC ; Mr Mehmet Kasim GÜLPINAR, Turkey, EC ; Mr Nazmi GÜR, Turkey, UEL ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain, SOC ; Mr Hamid HAMID, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Johannes HÜBNER, Austria, NR ; Mr Ögmundur JÓNASSON, Iceland, UEL ; Mr Serhii KIRAL, Ukraine, NR ; Mr Igor KOLMAN, Croatia, ALDE ; Ms Ksenija KORENJAK KRAMAR, Slovenia, ALDE ; Mr Terry LEYDEN, Ireland, ALDE ; Mr Jenő MANNINGER, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Soňa MARKOVÁ, Czech Republic, UEL ; Ms Judith OEHRI, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Mr Bernard PASQUIER, Monaco, ALDE ; Ms Maria POSTOICO, Republic of Moldova, UEL ; Mr Cezar Florin PREDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Mika RAATIKAINEN, Finland, NR ; Mr Andrea RIGONI, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Àlex SÁEZ, Spain, SOC ; Ms Lorella STEFANELLI, San Marino, EPP/CD ; Mr Attila TILKI, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Maciej WYDRZYŃSKI, Poland, ALDE ; Ms Kristýna ZELIENKOVÁ, Czech Republic, ALDE

In June 2014, Dilgam Asgarov, a Russian citizen, and Shahbaz Guliyev, an Azerbaijani citizen, were taken hostage by Armenian forces while visiting their native region, the occupied Kalbajar province of Azerbaijan. Another Azerbaijani citizen, Hasan Hasanov, was shot and killed and his body was later handed over to the Azerbaijani authorities for burial.

On 19 December 2014, a “court of first instance” of the “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, the unrecognised separatist regime established in the territories occupied by Armenia, “sentenced” D. Asgarov and S. Guliyev to life and 22 years’ imprisonment respectively.

The “court” that pronounced the two sentences neither has the legal recognition from a judicial authority of any State, as it was established by an unrecognised 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 emanating from international treaties that guarantee either human rights or the rule of law, because that unrecognised separatist political entity is not a signatory to them.

The Parliamentary Assembly should call on all parties directly involved in the illegal detention and prosecution of both D. Asgarov and S. Guliyev, as well as any national or international organisations that may contribute to the successful resolution of this situation, to act with determination in order to ensure the respect of the basic human and legal rights of the detained men, and urges them to guarantee, for these two individuals, in a reasonable time frame, a fair and impartial trial by an independent and legally established tribunal, in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5).