Armenian court seeks to arrest three Azeris on espionage charges

Arminfo, Yerevan
23 Jun 05

YEREVAN

The Armenian Prosecutor-General’s Office has put on the wanted list an
agent of the Azerbaijani intelligence bodies, Faiq Samilov, who is the
deputy head of the Qazax district department of the Azerbaijani
National Security Ministry. Armenian Prosecutor-General Agvan Ovsepyan
made this statement at the trial of Andrey Maziyev who is accused of
spying for Azerbaijan.

Part of the criminal case against Maziyev was singled out as a
separate case in April 2005, Ovsepyan said. It was then that Samilov
and Mahmud and Zaur Hasan (there is still no complete information
about them) were implicated in the case and accused of breaching
Article 38-35-217 and Article 38-35-305 of the Armenian Criminal
Code. It was decided to put Samilov on the wanted list on 14 June. The
court of first instance of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash
communities decided to arrest the three of them on 15 June. Today’s
trial also investigated the written evidence, including the
defendant’s testimony, which is part of the case and the conclusion of
the expert who confirmed that the testimony was valid.

To recap, Maziyev faces charges under three articles of the Armenian
Criminal Code: part one of Article 299, part one of Article 38-35-217
and Article 38-35-305, which concern national treason through
espionage, acting as an accessory to the preparation of a terrorist
attack and acting as an accessory to the assassination of a state or
political leader. According to the conclusion of the prosecution, he
cooperated with the security agencies of Azerbaijan, gave them
information about the domestic political situation in Armenia and some
information of military nature. As a staff member at [Yerevan’s]
Zvartnots airport, Maziyev handed over to the Azerbaijani intelligence
bodies photographs and information about the Armenian president’s
plane and the route of the president’s motorcade through the airport.

Maziyev was arrested on 3 February 2005. Judge Tigran Petrosyan
presides over the trial. Armenian Prosecutor-General Agvan Ovsepyan
and prosecutor Aram Amirzadyan represent the prosecution. The next
session of the trial is to take place on 24 June.