Details added (first version posted on 14:36)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 4
Trend:
A regular court hearing on the criminal case against Leyla Yunusova and her husband Arif Yunusov took place Aug.4, chaired by judge Afgan Hajiyev.
Initially, the court heard the testimony of reporter Anna Dagidashvili.
The witness said that during a conference in Tbilisi, a reporter from Armenia called Laura approached her and offered to work with Leyla Yunusova as a journalist.
"She said she could give me contact numbers of Leyla Yunusova," said the witness. "After returning to Azerbaijan, Yunusova called me and offered to cooperate. My job was to arrange interviews. For this, Yunusova was paying me 100-120 manats a month. Sometimes, due to the fact that she was abroad, the payments were late. I did not have TIN. I received a salary by signing a check, which Yunusova was giving me. One day she shouted at me and said that she was dissatisfied with my work. Then, our cooperation ended."
Then the testimony of reporter Akbar Hasanov was heard.
Hasanov said that he, as a reporter, knows Arif Yunusov and Leyla Yunusova. He went on to add that in 2006, Arif Yunusov offered him to go to Armenia.
"Since I write about Karabakh, I was interested in the situation in Armenia," Hasanov said. "So I accepted the offer of Yunusov and went with him to Armenia. While in Armenia, I have witnessed close contact of Arif Yunusov with the former Minister of National Security of Armenia David Shahnazaryan."
He also said that in 2007, Yunusov again invited him to go to Armenia.
Hasanov again accepted this offer.
The reporter said that during a trip, Yunusov gave money in cash to the participants.
The witness testified that the purpose of their visit to Armenia was only acquaintance with the situation in this country, but he knew nothing about the purpose of Yunusov's trip.
He also said that while in Armenia, Yunusov made no secret of his cooperation with the Armenians.
Edited by CN