He became a grandfather without being able to see his granddaughter, says Ruben Vardanyan’s son

Global News has touched upon the issue of Armenian military-political prisoners illegally held in Baku. The news channel writes that the son of Armenian Christian philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan said “none of us are safe,” noting that his father was a victim of “ethnic cleansing.”

Ruben Vardanyan, one of the richest men in Armenia, is facing 42 charges.

According to Vardanyan’s son, David, the trial taking place in Baku is fake, as the entire judicial process is formal and points to several undisclosed legal violations.

Now, David has criticized international media for “turning a blind” eye to cases like his father’s.

“We found out about his detention via social media on September 27, 2023, which was done very intentionally by the Azerbaijani Government to show every Armenian Christian that none of us are safe,” David said.

Ruben Vardanyan was arrested in Artsakh during the 2023 forced displacement.

“He was leaving as part of the civilian exodus, and he was detained at that border crossing. Ever since then, he’s been detained as a political dissident,” David said.

Despite his detention, David told GB News his father remains “stoic” about the situation.

“Several times he’s tried to say that he doesn’t want to complain about the conditions of his detention, because this would divert attention from the illegal nature of the whole procedure. There’s been semi-regular calls that we have with him for a couple of minutes once or twice a week at most, sometimes it’s been less, sometimes it’s been twice a week, but there’s no sort of regularity about them,” Vardanyan’s son said.