Two years in prison: Free Armenian Prisoners initiative presents  facts of Ruben Vardanyan`s case 

ArmInfo.The Free Armenian Prisoners initiative has presented the facts of Ruben  Vardanyan's case on the occasion of the second anniversary of his  imprisonment in Baku.

The statement, provided to ArmInfo, reads as follows:  On September  27, 2023, during the forced displacement of thousands of Artsakh  Armenians to Armenia, Ruben Vardanyan, a well-known philanthropist  and humanitarian, was arrested near the Hakari Bridge by Azerbaijani  authorities and transferred to a prison in Baku. Vardanyan had  briefly served as State Minister of the Republic of Artsakh from  November 4, 2022 to February 23, 2023. After being dismissed from  office, he chose to remain in Artsakh in order to stand by its people  during the blockade.

Following Ruben Vardanyan's arrest in late September and early  October 2023, several other prominent figures from Artsakh were also  detained by Azerbaijani authorities, including Davit Babayan, former  Foreign Minister of Artsakh; Levon Mnatsakanyan, former Defense  Minister of Artsakh; Davit Manukyan, former Deputy Commander of the  Artsakh Defense Army; former presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako  Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan; and Davit Ishkhanyan, Speaker of the  Artsakh Parliament.

On April 5, 2024, Ruben Vardanyan declared a hunger strike in Baku  prison, demanding him and other unlawfully detained Armenian  prisoners' immediate and unconditional release. He continued the  strike until April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. It was  later revealed that he had been subjected to torture throughout the  hunger strike.

On June 13, 2024, Ruben Vardanyan's international legal team  submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur  on Torture, reporting acts of torture and inhumane treatment affected  on him by the Azerbaijani government.

In November 2024, Ruben Vardanyan's international attorney Jared  Genser announced that the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan  had denied him entry to Baku, violating international legal norms.   On December 16, 2024, Ruben Vardanyan's legal team revealed that  around 42 potential charges had been filed against him. If shaken, he  could face life imprisonment. The charges are based on 20 different  articles of Azerbaijan's Criminal Code. The fabricated "evidence"  spans 422 volumes - more than 105,000 pages, all in Azerbaijan. No  proper translation or reasonable time has been provided for review.

On December 28, 2024, Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General announced that  the cases of 16 Armenian prisoners were being transferred to court.   On January 16, 2025, Ruben Vardanyan managed to send a message  through his family, declaring that, since the day of his arrest, he  had never tested, that all documents bearing his signature were  forged, and that both his lawyer and translator had been forced to  sign those documents.

On January 17, 2025, Amnesty International responded to Ruben  Vardanyan's statement, urging the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure  his right to a fair trial.  On January 17, 2025, nearly one year and  five months after his unlawful detention, a so-called "trial" began  at the Baku Military Court. Although Azerbaijani authorities had  promised "open trials," only the state-run AZERTAC media outlet was  allowed access. All requests from independent international observers  to attend were denied or ignored.

Ruben Vardanyan's case is being tried separately from the other  Artsakh leaders. In the very first session, Vardanyan requested to  merge his case with the others, but the court rejected this and all  of his other motions.

On January 19, 2025, Ruben Vardanyan announced a second hunger strike  in protest of the ongoing judicial farce. "This so-called 'trial' is  not just against me. It is an attempt to criminalize all Armenians -  all those who supported and demonstrated compassion towards Artsakh  and its people, all those who showed compassion. This is an attack on  an entire nation. I refuse to participate in this farce." The hunger  strike lasted 23 days, severely weakening him, but it succeeded in  drawing international attention to the sham trial being conducted in  Azerbaijan.

On March 12, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning  Azerbaijan's inhuman treatment of Armenian detainees and demanding  their immediate and unconditional release.  On March 7, 2025, during  a Red Cross-facilitated phone call, Vardanyan managed to send a  lengthy and first-ever voice message to his family, making several  key statements and emphasizing that "this trial is not just about me  and 15 others - all Armenians are on trial."

On June 5, 2025, Ruben Vardanyan's lawyer in Baku, Abraham Berman,  issued a statement highlighting that criminal liability must be based  on specific acts committed by an individual at a certain time and  place, under conditions that made the act possible.

On July 11, 2025, lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, a representative of the  interests of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human  Rights, published a report detailing severe violations of Ruben  Vardanyan's rights in the Baku court. She concluded that the result  was a fundamentally unjust legal process, depriving the defense of  any realistic opportunity to contest the charges or prove innocence.   As of Sep As of September 3, 2025, at the request of Azerbaijani  authorities, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)  officially announced its withdrawal from Azerbaijan. The ICRC was the  only international organization authorized to visit Armenian  detainees in Baku.

Since the beginning of the trial on January 17, 2025, there have been  36 court sessions over more than eight months. Throughout this time,  no evidence has been presented proving Ruben Vardanyan committed any  crimes personally. Moreover, many of the actions he is accused of  would have been impossible for him to commit during the alleged  timeframes. All so-called "witnesses" tested that they had never seen  or known Vardanyan and had only heard about him through the media.