ARRESTED RUSSIAN DENIES SPYING FOR AZERBAIJAN
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 5 2006

A Russian man who was arrested in Armenia late last year for allegedly
spying for Azerbaijan protested his innocence and claimed to have been
"brutally" mistreated in custody as he went on trial on Tuesday.

Rustem Valiakhmetov, 48, is accused of systematically collecting
Armenian "state secrets" and passing them on to Azerbaijani
intelligence. Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) and state
prosecutors have so far declined to detail the charges leveled against
him, promising to substantiate them during the trial.

News of the mysterious espionage case was first announced by the
NSS about two weeks ago, at least eight months after Valiakhmetov’s
arrest, which the Armenian successor to the Soviet KGB says was made
on December 28.

However, Valiakhmetov claimed during the opening court hearing that he
was detained on November 21. It also emerged that the retired Russian
army officer had served in the Armenian army during the 1992-1994
war with Azerbaijan. He is understood to have regularly traveled to
Armenia from Moscow, his place of permanent residence, in recent years.

"Armenia is my second motherland," Valiakhmetov told a court of first
instance in Gavar, the administrative center of the northeastern
Gegharkunik region. "I spilled blood for it and fought well."

"What [the law-enforcement authorities] now say really hurts me,"
he said, adding that he hopes to prove that the accusations are
unfounded during further court proceedings.

The defendant spoke after the presiding judge, Aghvan Petrosian,
agreed to adjourn the trial until September 18 in order to enable him
to hire a defense lawyer. The two trial prosecutors are expected to
read out their indictment during that session. They on Tuesday refused
to disclose details of the case until then, telling RFE/RL only that
Valiakhmetov confessed to the charges shortly after his arrested but
subsequently retracted the testimony.

Valiakhmetov claimed that the confession was extracted under duress,
saying that his body still bears traces of torture. "I was tortured
horribly and brutally," he said. "I will definitely describe during
the trial how they extracted testimony from me."

An ethnic Tatar, Valiakhmetov is not the first person accused of
spying for Azerbaijan and standing trial in Armenia. In June last
year, a Russian-born Armenian citizen, Andrey Maziev, was convicted
of high treason and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Maziev pleaded
guilty to the charges, unlike four other ethnic Russians who were
given lengthy jail sentences on similar charges in January 2004.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress