Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev
Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev were two people arrested near Kalbajar, Azerbaijan around the time of the 2014 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes. Azerbaijan claims the two are hostages while Armenia claims them as Prisoners of War.
In July 2014, Russian citizen of Azerbaijani descent, Dilgam Asgarov, and Azerbaijani citizen, Shahbaz Guliyev, were arrested by Armenian allied forces. Another Azerbaijani citizen, Hasan Hasanov, was shot to death while trying to visit their homeland in Kalbajar. Hasanov's body was recovered by Azerbaijan forces and buried in Baku. Armenian sources claim the three had crossed the state border of the Nagorno-Karabakh occupied area, performed reconnaissance operations, kidnapped and later killed an adolescent, 17-year old Smbat Tsakanyan after torturing him.
On December 29, 2014, a non-legally recognized court in the Republic of Artsakh, "The Stepanakert Residence of the General Jurisdiction Court of First Instance of Nagorno Karabakh Republic", sentenced Asgarov to life in prison and Guliyev to 22 years in prison. The main crime attributed to both was the murder of Tsakanyan.
Both have been called to be freed pending a trail by a recognized court internationally.
