Azerbaijan launches criminal case against Armenian saboteur

By Akbar Mammadov

The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office has launched a criminal case against the Armenian saboteur senior lieutenant Gurgen Alaverdyan who sought to commit a provocaiton on the line of contact on August 23.

Alaverdyan was the commander of the subversive-intelligence group of the Armenian Armed Forces and was captured by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. 

According to the report shared the Prosecutor General's Office on its website on August 26, the criminal case has been initiated by the Prosecutor General's Office under five articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan: Article 100.2 (conduct of aggressive war), 276 (espionage), 279.1 (creation of armed formations or groups not provided by law), 228.1 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of firearms, their components, ammunition, explosives and devices) and 318.1 (illegal crossing of the state border of Azerbaijan).

Furthermore, a joint investigative-operational group consisting of professional employees from the Prosecutor General's Office, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Border Service has been established to conduct a thorough, complete and objective investigation of the criminal case.

Thus, the Prosecutor General’s Office revealed that on August 23, 2020, on the instructions of the special services of Armenia, Gurgen Alaverdyan was suspected of illegally crossing the state border by spying in order to collect information constituting a state secret for the purpose of using it to the detriment of the security of Azerbaijan and transfer the information to Armenia.

It was also noted that substantial suspicions have been established that he participated in the illegal formation of armed groups in the occupied Kalbajar region as a result of the aggressive wars of the Armenian Armed Forces, attacked Azerbaijani servicemen, facilities, institutions, organizations or individuals, as well as committed acts of violence against them, killed people, harmed their health, acted in a manner aimed at causing significant property damage or other public dangerous consequences,  illegally acquired, stored, transported and carried firearms, their components and ammunition.

“Taking into account the nature and complexity of the crime, the Prosecutor General instructed the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office to conduct a criminal investigation,” the Prosecutor General’s Office noted.

It should be noted that commander of the sabotage-reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces, senior lieutenant Gurgen Alaverdyan, born in 1989, was identified and detained as a result of measures taken by the Azerbaijani army in the direction of Goranboy region of the frontline on August 23 at around 6:00 am. Earlier, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry puiblicized the military items found on Alaverdyan during his capture.

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Akbar Mammadov  is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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