Criminal case launched on illegal extraction from fields located in Azerbaijan's occupied territories

Baku. 31 March. REPORT.AZ/ The material received from the "AzerGold" CJSC on the illegal extraction of minerals in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Armenian armed forces have been investigated at the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan.

According to the joint statement by the General Prosecutor's Office and "AzerGold" press service, it was revealed that during the occupation period, the chairs of "Vallex Group", "Base Metals", "ACP", "Lerna metalurgiayi İnstitute", "Teghout" and other companies and individuals have illegally crossed the state border of Azerbaijan over the territory of Armenia and organized other groups of persons in the occupied territories without establishing state registration in a manner prescribed by the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, illegally earned revenues from extraction of plenty of gold and other non-ferrous metals from Soyudlu, Gizilbulag gold and other non-ferrous fileds in Kalbajar district, Vejneli field in Zangilan district, Damirli field in Tartar district and other fields.

During the investigation, the illegal production of ore deposits in the occupied territories was proven on the basis of high-yielding images taken during the geological survey of Azersky satellite of Azercosmos.OJSC.

Based on these facts, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan has filed a criminal case under the Article 192.2.3 (illegal entrepreneurship) and Article 318.2 (Illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan) and the preliminary investigation on the case intrusted to the Investigation Department for Serious Crimes of the Prosecutor General's Office.

At the same time, an appeal will be made to the international court and law-enforcement agencies of countries where those companies have been registered.