The military board of the Serious Crimes Court has started preliminary hearings of the case of Petr Modzhalov, an Azerbaijani military officer who is accused of treason, Day.az website reported.
It was established during operational investigative measures that Modzhalov was recruited by Valeriy Lastovskiy, an officer of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, in 1997. The spy, who used the alias "Igor", gave Russians state secrets about Azerbaijan's military.
In particular, Modzhalov was tasked with obtaining information about the structure of the Defence Ministry's General Staff, about its personnel, combat readiness, supplies and military hardware.
Investigators found that Modzhalov had carried out all the orders given by his "command". In return for the valuable information, Russian intelligence agencies paid him 300-400 dollars.
Prosecutors say that they have incontrovertible evidence against Modzhalov.
The GRU spy was arrested on 18 October 2006. The trial will continue behind closed doors on 15 December.
KC
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