US Department of State has not made any comments with respect to the two Azerbaijani citizen’s ongoing court case in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
On 28 October daily press briefing, U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Jen Psaki stated that she is not aware of any State Department engagement in this matter. "On these specific cases, we really don't have a great deal of information on it. We have continued to convey that it's important for the sides to take the necessary steps to lay the basis for a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We call on all sides to redouble their efforts at the negotiation table to focus on the benefits that peace will bring to people across the region," Psaki specifically stated.
To recall, two Azerbaijani citizens, who have been accused of committing acts of sabotage, including the killing of an Armenian teen, after illegally crossing the border into Karabakh last summer, went on trial in Stepanakert on October 27. Shahbaz Quliyev, 46, and Dilham Askerov, 54, are charged with murder, espionage, illegal border crossing, and illegal weapons possession. They are charged under a number of articles of the Nagorno Karabakh republic’s penal code. In particular, they are accused of murdering 17-year-old villager Smbat Tsakanian and 42-year-old officer Sargis Abrahamian, as well as wounding the wife of another serviceman, 37-year-old Karine Davtian. Hasan Hasanov, a third member of the group, was reportedly killed after showing resistance during his arrest. Hasanov's body was repatriated to Azerbaijan earlier this month.