Ruben Vardanyan facing risk of life imprisonment as Azerbaijan expands false charges against him
Azerbaijani prosecutors have filed an extensive new package of approximately 45 charges against Armenian political prisoner, philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, his legal team reports. These charges place Vardanyan at risk of life imprisonment.
The new accusations against Vardanyan reference 20 different articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code. Fabricated evidence has been compiled into 100 volumes, totaling nearly 25,000 pages, all in Azerbaijani.
The alleged “evidence” has been completely withheld from both Vardanyan and the public under the pretext that the charges pertain to “Azerbaijan’s national security.” Meanwhile, the regime has refused to provide Vardanyan or his lawyers with copies of the “evidence”. They have only been granted access to the materials without proper translation and under tight deadlines. Furthermore, citing “national security concerns,” Vardanyan and his legal team are barred from making any notes, significantly restricting their ability to prepare a defense for the trial.
“These charges represent a blatant violation of Azerbaijan’s international legal obligations,” Jared Genser, international legal counsel for the Vardanyan family, said. “This long list of accusations is an openly cynical attempt to blame Ruben Vardanyan for everything the Azerbaijani regime itself has done in Nagorno-Karabakh. Moreover, Azerbaijan’s refusal to publicly disclose the charges and so-called evidence against Vardanyan reinforces the fact that the accusations are politically motivated. The regime also knows that any independent observer would see there is no credible evidence to support these baseless allegations. This approach is clearly designed to enable Aliyev to justify a secret trial that will neither be independent nor impartial.”
The Vardanyan family warned that these new accusations signal an intensifying campaign by Aliyev to silence dissenting voices, called on the democratic world to show that such flagrant violations will no longer be tolerated, and urged international organizations and media to attend the trial.
“The latest charges against my father are a mockery of justice and retribution for the failures at COP29,” Ruben Vardanyan’s son, David Vardanyan, said. “Ruben Vardanyan served as Nagorno-Karabakh’s State Minister for three months. Throughout this period, he worked to improve the lives of the people in Nagorno-Karabakh through vital social programs. Unfortunately, he now faces the threat of life imprisonment at the hands of one of the world’s most corrupt regimes. His arrest and the fabricated charges against him send a message to Armenians worldwide that no one is safe. For over two years, his family has been unable to see him. We fear we may never be able to see him again unless the democratic world takes action to end this absurdity.”
Former Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, who held office from November 2022 to February 2023, remains detained in a Baku prison in gross violation of international law. His trial, which has been repeatedly postponed, is unlikely to meet international standards of fairness.
