Artsakh slams Azeri propaganda on torturing jailed spies as absurdity, information terror

Davit Babayan, spokesperson of the President of Artsakh, says the reports on subjecting Azeri citizens Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev to “physical and moral tortures” in Nagorno Karabakh are absurdity.

Commenting on a recent statement attributed by Azerbaijan to an organization called International Human Rights Defence Committee, which said that the illegal border crossers Askerov and Guliyev are being subjected to “physical and moral torture” in Nagorno Karabakh, the presidential spokesman said: “After studying the statement of this organization it becomes clear that it has been written in Baku, or in Sumgait, it isn’t also ruled out that this organization is based in Azerbaijan. This statement is another propaganda mugham of Azerbaijan, which the Azerbaijanis are offering to its society.”

Mr. Babayan says the statement is none other than information terrorism.

“The International Committee of the Red Cross is regularly visiting Askerov and Guliyev and assesses their condition. They have never been subjected to any kind of violence, be it physical or moral,” Mr. Babayan said.

The Artsakh presidential spokesman called on the international community to inquire on the conditions of Armenians who are jailed in Azerbaijan for some reasons, or the conditions of the political prisoners of Baku itself. “In this case everyone will have an understanding on what the situation is like in Azerbaijan,” he said.

Dilham Askerov is serving a life sentence in Artsakh, while Shahbaz Guliyev was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for espionage.

The two saboteurs had infiltrated Artsakh and kidnapped a minor at gunpoint, who was later discovered dead in a forest.