6 WITNESSES INTERROGATED DURING TRIAL OF SPY FOR AZERI SPECIAL SERVIcES

YEREVAN, JUNE 13. ARMINFO. 6 witnesses were interrogated during today’s
court hearing of the case of Andrey Maziev who is accused of spying
for the Azeri special serviCes.

Maziev is facing charges of high treason, terrorist act and murder
political plotting.

The court has found out that Maziev tried to establish contacts
with the president of the Ashur Assyrian youth organization of
Armenia Irina Gasparyan who has taken part in many international
events in Tbilisi and Baku and has consequently had contacts with
Azeri representatives. In the spring 2002 she went to Baku to take
part in a conference of the South Caucasian ethnic minorities. Some
Zaur Hasan and Mahmud (the latter Azeri national security agent) met
her on the Georgian-Azeri border. At first they were very aggressive
but then calmed down. The men refused to be photographed. Gasparyan
says that during her visit she as not offered to move to Azerbaijan
pointblank but some hints were made – moreover the question was not
only about her personally but about the whole Assyrian community.

The employee of Yerevan Project Petros Sogomonyan says that he has also
been a target of such offers. In 1964-1972 he worked in Nakhichevan
for Soviet-Iranian expedition and for many years had business contacts
with Azeri KGB agents. Sogomonyan says that the Azeri special services
may be interested in him as an specialist.

Witness Artur Haroutyunyan says that Maziev asked him to help him to
get a job at Drmbon mining group but his father dissuaded him from
so doing. Witness Armenak Sirakanyan (class mate of Maziev, Defence
Ministry employee) says that Maziev was a constant bother for his
friends and relatives but he never said he contacted with the Azeri
special services.

The court has also found out that the Azeri special services instructed
Maziev to join the Communist Party of Armenia which he did in Apr 2000.

The next hearing is scheduled for June 17.