Home / Armenia / Azerbaijani’s Lawyer is Keeping Silent; Information on Tsakanyan’s Murder Case is kept Secret: Haykakan Zhamanak

Azerbaijani’s Lawyer is Keeping Silent; Information on Tsakanyan’s Murder Case is kept Secret: Haykakan Zhamanak

Arkadi Israelyan, the lawyer of the two arrested Azerbaijanis in Karvajar (Kelbajar) in mid-July, Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev’s, and Investigator Chalyan, who has undertaken the investigation of the murder case of 17-year old Smbat Tsakanyan (pictured), have both refused to speak about the details of their cases. According to the NKR prosecutor, Tsakanyan was murdered by Askerov and Guliyev.

While Arkadi Israelyan spoke with local daily Haykakan Zhamanak, he did not reveal any new information, including if the defendants see themselves as guilty or not.

Chalyan, the investigator, was asked a question by the daily’s journalist about the reason the preliminary investigation was completed so soon, he said, “I can not respond to such questions… I don’t have the right to tell you what was found in the preliminary investigation. It’s possible for the court sessions to be open to the public and journalists to attend.” The paper also spoke to Smbat Tsakanyan’s parents, who were also not aware of the content in the case.

“We are waiting for the court investigation, the preliminary investigation body says that we need a court case, and they need to give a life sentence. We don’t know anything, they haven’t sent us the materials of the case, and they say that if you come to the court sessions, you will know everything about how they killed your child and where they took him…

They killed my 17-year old son, what kind of state do we have? The Turks are coming in here, photographing themselves, doing what they want, why doesn’t the state know that there are Turks in the territory?” said Smbat Tsakanyan’s mother Karine Tsakanyan.

His father, Mekhak Tsakanyan, confirmed that the police are “not telling them anything.” “According to them it’s a secret, but why, we don’t understand” noted Mekhak Tsakanyan.

Prior to Dilgam Askerov’s arrest, Shahbaz Guliyev was arrested and Hasan Hasanov was killed. Baku defensively claims that the arrested and killed had no connection to the country’s military. The Armenian side has refused to grant the arrested person ‘Prisoner of War’ status.

Nagorno Karabakh’s prosecutor general has accused them for espionage, illegally crossing into NKR’s protected state borders with an organized group, illegal possession of arms and ammunition, kidnapping, murder motivated by ethnic hatred accompanied by kidnapping, and attempted murder of two individuals motivated by ethnic hatred. In accordance to the official bodies of Karvajar (Kelbajar) region, Askerov and Guliyev kidnapped and murdered 17-year old Smbat Tsakanyan, as well as, 42-year old Sargis Abrahamyan and injured 37-year old Karine Davtyan.