15 Scuzzy Muzzy Iranian Spies Convicted

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316350,00.html

Azerbaijan Court Convicts 15 People Accused of Ties With Iranian

Intelligence

Monday, December 10, 2007

BAKU, Azerbaijan - A court in Azerbaijan on Monday convicted 15 people

accused of ties with Iranian intelligence of crimes including treason and

plotting to seize power, and handed down lengthy prison sentences.

The convictions, which a lawyer for the alleged ringleader said were

unfounded, highlighted concern in the secular ex-Soviet republic over the

influence of neighboring Iran.

The defendants were arrested in January on suspicion of crimes including

plotting to forcefully seize power, treason, organizing a criminal group,

possession of weapons and drugs, and counterfeiting. Authorities who

announced the arrests did not mention Iran. The suspects had been on trial

behind closed doors for two months.

The alleged leader, Said Dadashbeyli, and two others were sentenced to 14

years in prison, while the rest received sentences ranging from two years to

13, the Court for Grave Crimes said.

Dadashbeyli's lawyer, Elchin Gambarov, denied the defendants were connected

with Iranian intelligence, saying they opposed Iranian influence.

He also denied media reports that portrayed the defendants as Islamic

extremists, saying they adhered to "an Islam that is close to democratic

values."

"This is an inhuman, unfair court decision," Gambarov said. "Their guilt was

not proved." He said the convictions would be appealed.

The oil-rich Caspian Sea nation has increasingly been caught in a tug-of-war

for influence between the secular, democratic West and Iran, its large

southern neighbor. Rumblings of Shiite political Islam have been

particularly noticeable in the more conservative regions that border Iran.

In October, authorities said they had thwarted plans by Islamic militants to

attack the U.S. Embassy and other government buildings in Azerbaijan with

stolen military grenades and assault rifles.

President Ilham Aliev has maintained a tight grip since succeeding his

father in a 2003 presidential vote that observers called flawed. In 2005,

authorities arrested 12 government officials on charges of plotting a coup.

The opposition said the arrests were part of a government effort to

manipulate parliamentary elections that year.