In Samvel Babayan's case, witness confesses to ordering Igla missile system

At a trial, a witness has confessed to the court that he himself purchased the man-portable air defence system (MANPADS) "Igla" for the Defence Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh. Earlier, Samvel Babayan, the former Defence Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, has been accused of importing the missile system.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 22, the National Security Service of Armenia reported the detention of two persons from whom the MANPADS "Igla" was seized. Investigators suggested it was imported from Georgia. Samvel Babayan, the former Defence Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, was arrested in the case.

According to the investigators' version, Samvel Babayan wanted to purchase the MANPADS "Igla", and in the summer of 2016, he pushed an Armenian resident to illegally purchase, transport and store the MANPADS.

At a court hearing held on October 23, Sanasar Gabrielyan, a witness in the Samvel Babayan's case, stated that the purchased man-portable air defence system "Igla" was not full-fledged, since some spare parts were absent.

"It is just a pipe," the witness said.

Sanasar Gabrielyan has also noted that he showed pictures of the "Igla" to Samvel Babayan in order to find out his professional opinion whether it was worth purchasing and transferring it to the Defence Army of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Samvel Babayan said some spare parts were absent and without them it could not be used as a weapon, but only as a spare part," the witness noted.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.