The trial court of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has found Rafael Avagyan and David Barseghyan guilty of espionage and has sentenced them to 10 and 11 years in jail, respectively.
Avagyan and Barseghyan said they were not guilty as they did not realize what they were doing.
As was reported earlier, one year ago Avagyan and Barseghyan made friends on the Odnoklassniki social network with some Samvel Azatyan from Istanbul. The man said that he was from a charitable organization and asked Avagyan to provide him with some information about Nagorno- Karabakh's Defense Army (how many soldiers were killed and wounded in accidents, what medical and catering services were provided in the army, what infrastructures it had).
In exchange Avagyan received a wristwatch, a wallet and some $1,000. Azatyan advised him to spent $800 on a mobile phone and to give the rest to Barseghyan for photos of Syrian Armenians in Kovsakan.