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TWO IN KARABAKH CONVICTED OF SPYING
http://armenianow.com/news/47950/armenia_karabakh_espionage_trial_convicted
NEWS | 24.07.13 | 09:29
Photo: www.kavkaz-uzel.ru
Two ethnic Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh received lengthy
prison sentences on Tuesday as they were convicted of spying for
Azerbaijan through the Internet, reports RFE/RL's Armenian Service.
A court in Stepanakert found Rafael Avagyan, a 22-year-old soldier,
and his civilian friend David Barseghyan guilty of high treason and
espionage, sentencing them to 11 and 10 years in prison respectively.
Both men pleaded not guilty to the accusations stemming from their
communication with an obscure foreigner through a Russian online social
network. They said they never thought that they are collaborating
with Azerbaijani intelligence.
The defendants' lawyer was quoted by the radio station's Stepanakert
correspondent as calling the verdict unfair and arguing, among other
things, that investigators failed to establish the identity of the
alleged Azerbaijani agent who started communicating with his clients
about a year ago.
The arrests of Avagyan and Barseghyan were announced by the Armenian
National Security Service 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 Movsisyan, 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."
From: Baghdasarian
http://armenianow.com/news/47950/armenia_karabakh_espionage_trial_convicted
NEWS | 24.07.13 | 09:29
Photo: www.kavkaz-uzel.ru
Two ethnic Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh received lengthy
prison sentences on Tuesday as they were convicted of spying for
Azerbaijan through the Internet, reports RFE/RL's Armenian Service.
A court in Stepanakert found Rafael Avagyan, a 22-year-old soldier,
and his civilian friend David Barseghyan guilty of high treason and
espionage, sentencing them to 11 and 10 years in prison respectively.
Both men pleaded not guilty to the accusations stemming from their
communication with an obscure foreigner through a Russian online social
network. They said they never thought that they are collaborating
with Azerbaijani intelligence.
The defendants' lawyer was quoted by the radio station's Stepanakert
correspondent as calling the verdict unfair and arguing, among other
things, that investigators failed to establish the identity of the
alleged Azerbaijani agent who started communicating with his clients
about a year ago.
The arrests of Avagyan and Barseghyan were announced by the Armenian
National Security Service 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 Movsisyan, 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."
From: Baghdasarian