During the March 9th trial session the court heard from Sonya Gabrielyan and Mariam Martikyan. The latter reneged on her previous testimony in which it was noted that despite being aware that Nora and Milena (whose name has been changed and has been recognized by the court as an aggrieved party) were to be exploited in the Emirates, however Gayaneh Ghaltakhchyan intervened, sending them an invitation and paying for their travel expenses to...
In addition to Mariam Martirosyan, also charged in the case is the other sister of Anoush, Sonya Gabrielyan. At various times they assisted Anoush in transporting women of different ages to the United Arab Emirates under false pretenses where they wound up being forced to work as prostitutes.
K.G testified that at the house of Mariam Martikyan the following exchange took place between Mariam and Milena, an injured party in the case whose named had been changed. “At first Milena refused to go to Dubai arguing that she was scared. But Martikyan told her not to worry about a thing because she would be there to support her and that she would send to see a man who’d take care of all her problems.”
40 year-old Anoush, a high school graduate, has been in custody since October 1, 2008. For years on end Anoush has overseen the transfer, through fraud and deceit, of women of various ages from Armenia to the United Arab Emirates where they have been subject to sexual exploitation.