Armenia`s former human rights defender to send targeted appeals to  international organizations over trials of Armenians in Baku 

ArmInfo. Below is a Facebook post by Armenia'f former human rights defender Arman  Tatoyan:  "Ruben Vardanyan and all our other hostages and captives are being  brutally tortured through fabricated Azerbaijani trials, aimed at  fulfilling the Azerbaijani authorities' thirst for revenge, resolving  political issues, asserting their power at the expense of the  Armenian people's dignity, undermining our national consciousness,  and deepening tension and division among us.

"These "trials" are necessary for the Azerbaijani authorities to  legitimize their false political theses, to cleanse themselves of  responsibility for ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, and to create grounds  for aggression against Armenia.

"Ruben Vardanyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Davit Ishkhanyan,  Levon Mnatsakanyan, Davit Babayan, Davit Manukyan, Arayik  Harutyunyan, and our other compatriots must be immediately released-  every minute and hour of their captivity is a grave crime."

"We will also send targeted appeals to international organizations  and the public, backed by the necessary justifications."

After the lawyer's statement, Ruben Vardanyan's son David Vardanyan  also made a video address, calling for a fight against the staged  trials of his father and other Armenian political prisoners initiated  in Baku.

"If Armenian prisoners, including my father, are not released, no  Armenian will be safe. If we do not rise up today, we will endanger  our future generations and the existence of the Armenian people,"  David Vardanyan noted.

Earlier, Ruben Vardanyan's international lawyer Jared Genser made a  statement in which he reported a sharp deterioration in his client's  health and called on the international community to respond to the  trial in Baku.

On January 17, under the chairmanship of Judge Zeynal Agayev, the  Baku Military Court began considering the "indictment" against the  former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Among the accused  are three  former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh: Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako  Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan. Also appearing before the court will  be former Foreign Minister David Babayan, Speaker of the Parliament  David Ishkhanyan, former Commander of the Defense Army General Levon  Mnatsakanyan, General David Manukyan and former State Minister Ruben  Vardanyan.

On January 16, Vardanyan made a statement in which he demanded that  he and his lawyer be given the opportunity to fully prepare for their  defense; that all violations and falsifications be eliminated; that  the trial of him and all the other accused be made public. "I insist  on a maximally open trial with the participation of international  journalists and representatives of humanitarian organizations. I am  convinced that only a real court, and not a trial, will help take a  step forward on the difficult path of building new relations between  our peoples," he emphasized.

In conclusion, he demanded that his case be combined with the cases  of other defendants. "More than 400 volumes of my case out of 422 are  episodes of a common case. Separating my case into a separate  proceeding is an artificial and unfounded decision," Vardanyan added.

After a number of Vardanyan's petitions were rejected during the  trial, he went on a hunger strike.