Spy Case Launched Against Emigre Pair

The government launched its espionage case against two Soviet emigres Wednesday as the owner of a popular Russian restaurant in West Hollywood testified that he remembered the couple entertaining Soviet officials and praising their homeland.

Michael Markarian, owner of Mischa’s Restaurant, said that he particularly remembered defendant Svetlana Ogorodnikova complaining about life in the United States and expressing her desire to return to the Soviet Union.

“The picture she always painted of the Soviet Union was that it was beautiful, a crime-free society, that the government looked after the children and the aged and she regretted leaving the Soviet Union,” Markarian said. “She wanted to go to Russia.”

The witness said that Ogorodnikova never explained to him why she had left the Soviet Union but told him many times that she wished to return but could not.

‘Could Not Go Back’

“She mentioned she was persona non grata in the Soviet Union and could not go back,” Markarian said.

Ogorodnikova, 34, and her husband, Nikolai Ogorodnikov, 51, are charged with conspiring with an FBI agent, Richard W. Miller, to pass classified documents to the Soviet Union. The government claims that the defendants were low-level agents trying to earn their way back to the Soviet Union.

Miller, who is the first FBI agent ever indicted on espionage charges, is scheduled to stand trial after a verdict is returned in the Ogorodnikovs’ case.

Markarian, who gave jurors an overview of the large Russian emigre community in Los Angeles, recalled the Ogorodnikovs entertaining Soviet officials at his restaurant, which features Russian food and performers. He produced a business card that had been given to him by a Soviet vice consul from San Francisco who came to dine with the couple.

Suggestion From Official

“The reason I recall this evening quite vividly is that after dinner, when I stopped by the table, the vice consul shook my hand, thanked me for a wonderful meal and suggested I open a restaurant like this in Soviet Armenia,” Markarian said.

He said the official suggested that it would be a patriotic act for Markarian to do this. But the restaurant owner, born of Russian and Armenian parents in China, said he responded that he was an American citizen and “I enjoy living in a country that has free enterprise.”

On other occasions, Ogorodnikova distributed leaflets and schedules of Soviet films being shown in Los Angeles and once brought a Soviet travel poster to the restaurant, Markarian testified.

“She mentioned she was doing a lot of these things to win favor because she had a longing to go back to the Soviet Union,” he said.

Talked About Politics

On cross-examination by Ogorodnikova’s attorney, Greg Stone, the witness said he remembered that she became “tipsy” a few times and spoke loudly about political issues.

“I told her to quiet down, that I didn’t want to hear politics, that it’s a place to relax and have a good time,” Markarian said.

Despite defense contentions that Ogorodnikova is an alcoholic with limited intelligence, Markarian said he found her “quite well versed in the (English) language and on top of current events.”

Prosecutors have promised jurors that fired FBI agent Miller, 47, will appear as a witness for the government, but they have admitted that they’re not sure what he will say.