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Karabakh Armenians Tried For 'Spying'

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  • Karabakh Armenians Tried For 'Spying'

    KARABAKH ARMENIANS TRIED FOR 'SPYING'

    http://asbarez.com/111074/karabakh-armenians-tried-for-%E2%80%98spying%E2%80%99/
    Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013

    The two soldiers are charged for transmitting sensitive military
    information.

    STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)-Two young men have gone on trial in
    Nagorno-Karabakh on charges of collaborating with Azerbaijani
    intelligence through the Internet.

    Rafael Avagian, a 22-year-old Karabakh Armenian soldier, and his
    friend Davit Barseghian stand accused of high treason and espionage
    stemming from their communication with an obscure foreigner through a
    Russian online social network. They both admit having passed sensitive
    information on to the man but insist that they did not know that he
    was an intelligence officer.

    Avagian, the main suspect in the case, told a Stepanakert court on
    Wednesday that the alleged Azerbaijani agent identified himself as
    Samvel Azatian and claimed to be an Istanbul-based representative of
    an Armenian Diaspora charity when they started communicating about
    a year ago. He said Azatian claimed that the charity plans to launch
    benevolent activities in Karabakh and needs detailed information about
    the disputed territory's armed forces as well as civilian institutions
    and infrastructures.

    "We made friends and fully trusted each other," continued the
    defendant. "Some time later he said that they wanted to provide
    assistance to the [Karabakh] Defense Army and needed ... details
    of army units for that purpose. That is why I sent him information
    afterwards."

    Avagian said he sent pictures and other details of Karabakh army units
    and received about $1,000 and several other "gifts" in return. He
    said he then paid Barseghian $200 to travel to an Armenian-controlled
    district south of Karabakh to take pictures of Syrian Armenian settlers
    living there.

    According to Avagian, the online interlocutor afterwards asked him
    to make a written pledge to carry out "secret tasks" for money. The
    soldier serving in the Karabakh army on a contractual basis said he
    signed a corresponding document sent from Istanbul shortly before
    his and Barseghian's arrest.

    The arrests were announced by Armenia's National Security Service
    (NSS) on June 25. In a statement, the NSS also reported the detention
    on similar charges of a 31-year-old woman serving in the Armenian army.

    The NSS said the woman, Mane Movsisian, communicated through Facebook
    and other online networks with an unnamed Azerbaijani intelligence
    officer based in Turkey. It claimed that she gave him classified
    "information of military nature about Armenia." No further details
    were reported.




    From: A. Papazian
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