Two Armenian Soldiers Accused of Spying for Azerbaijan

Erevan/05.07.13/Turan-ArmInfo: In Nagorno-Karabakh began the trial of a 22-year-old soldier-contractor Rafael Avakian and his friend David Barsegian accused of treason and espionage.

According to the Armenian service of Radio Liberty, Avakian and Barsegian about a year ago in a social network Schoolmates met with some Samvel Azatyan from Istanbul, who introduced himself as a member of the charity acting in this city.

At the meeting, Rafael Avakian said they noticed nothing suspicious in Azatian who well spoke Armenian, and his friends in the social network were Armenians. New acquaintance, allegedly for charity programs, asked Avakian for some information about the Armenian army, the dead and the wounded, the medical care, the food supply, the state departments and so on.

The accused said that 3-4 times he sent this information, for which he received as a gift a watch, a wallet and other items, as well as about $ 1,000. Of this amount, Avakian spent $ 800, on the advice of Azatyan, to buy a mobile phone, and gave $ 200 to a friend, David Barsegian for sending out from Kovsakan photographs relating to Syrian Armenians.

Avakian also said that at the request of his "friend of the Diaspora" he prepared a number of other information and photos, but they were not sent. He soon received a letter from Samvel that, in fact, was the text of an oath, one of the points of which was to promise to carry out secret missions with the condition for obtaining $ 300 for each of them. According to the defendant, he believed that the information he passed did not contain military secrets.

Earlier, the security of Armenia said that the two soldiers were recruited by the Azerbaijani intelligence and fulfilled its mission.

In addition to these soldiers an Armenian army lieutenant was arrested in Kapan. She is also accused of working for the intelligence of Azerbaijan. -02D-