Baku’s Military Court today sentenced former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan to twenty years imprisonment.

Azerbaijani state media report that Vardanyan was convicted on a variety of charges including terrorism, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

At today’s court session, the Azerbaijani state prosecutor called for life imprisonment for Vardanyan.

Vardanyan, during a telephone conversation with his family last week, described his trial as a “judicial farce.” 

Azerbaijani border guards detained Vardanyan and seven other former Nagorno-Karabakh officials in September 2023 as they attempted to cross into Armenia following Azerbaijan’s final assault on the region.

Earlier this month, the court sentenced Arayik Harutyunyan (fourth President of Artsakh), Levon Mnatsakanyan (former Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army), David Manukyan (former Deputy Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army), David Ishkhanyan (last Speaker of the Artsakh National Assembly), David Babayan (former Advisor to the President of the Republic of Artsakh and former foreign minister)  to life imprisonment, and former Artsakh presidents Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan to twenty years in prison.

The trials were covered exclusively by Azerbaijani state and government-controlled media.

Vardanyan’s family issued a statement today deriding the court’s verdict, describing it as a “judgement against the Armenian people as a whole.”

Photo: Azerbaijani APA news agency