Aurora Prize Laureate calls on  International Community to act to  free Ruben Vardanyan

ArmInfo.  Aurora Prize Laureate Tom Catena has called on the international community to act immediately to secure the release of former State Minister of Artsakh  and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan as well as all Armenian prisoners  who are unlawfully held in Azerbaijan.

As noted in a message received by ArmInfo from the Free Armenian  Prisoners initiative, in his video message Tom Catena has expressed  support for Ruben Vardanyan, who has been unjustly held in an  Azerbaijani prison for over a year. In this regard, he recalled that  he has known the philanthropist since 2017, when he received the  Aurora Global Humanitarian Prize for his humanitarian work in Sudan.

"As the Chair of the Aurora Prize Initiative, I have known Ruben  Vardanyan for  years and I have always found him to be an  exceptionally fair and honest person. Anyone familiar with him  understands that the charges brought up against him are completely  false and absurd," the famous doctor noted.  Catena also noted that  Vardanyan, despite being aware of all the risks associated with  traveling to Artsakh, still went there to provide assistance to the  Armenian population and the government of the Nagorno- Karabakh  Republic.