POW Ruben Vardanyan Transferred to Penitentiary Facility in Azerbaijan

Ruben Vardanyan, the former state minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, has been transferred to a penitentiary facility in Azerbaijan following his conviction earlier this year — a new phase in his detention, according to his legal representative.

Human rights attorney Siranush Sahakyan confirmed in an interview with The Armenian Report that Vardanyan, along with other Armenian detainees, was moved in the past week from a pre-trial detention facility run by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service to the Umbaki prison complex in Baku.

The prison, located in the Garadagh district of Baku, operates under Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Justice and is designated for individuals serving prison sentences.

“We provided that information ourselves, and it is confirmed. We became aware of it during the past week,” Sahakyan said.

She noted that limited information is available about the facility but confirmed it was renovated in 2023 and is used to house convicted prisoners.

“This refers to those detainees and prisoners of war who were captured in 2020, later unlawfully sentenced, and had already spent a longer time in Azerbaijan,” she said.

According to Sahakyan, the transfer reflects a procedural shift rather than a sudden change in policy.

“In any country’s legal system, there is a distinction between detainees and convicted prisoners serving sentences,” she explained. “Ruben and the others were held in a pre-trial detention facility. Since there are now court verdicts, I assume that is the reason he has been transferred to penitentiary institutions under the Ministry of Justice, where those serving sentences are mainly held.”

She added that not all Armenian detainees are being held separately.

“There are Armenians who are held together in the same cell,” Sahakyan said. “Our interpretation, and the most logical one, is that their sentences have entered into legal force.”

Sahakyan also confirmed that other Armenian prisoners of war who have received court decisions have been transferred to the same facility.

Vardanyan was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison by a court in Baku. Azerbaijani prosecutors had sought a life sentence, accusing him of a range of serious offenses, including waging war against Azerbaijan, financing terrorism and forcibly displacing civilians.

Vardanyan, who did not hold a formal military role, rejected the charges and described the proceedings as illegitimate.

During the final hearing, he instructed his lawyer not to present a defense and called the trial a “farce,” according to statements released at the time.

Over the course of the nearly year-long process, no independent lawyers, human rights observers or international media representatives were allowed to attend the hearings, raising concerns among legal experts and advocacy groups about the transparency of the trial.

His family later described the verdict as “frightening, though not unexpected,” pointing to longstanding concerns over due process.

Sahakyan said Vardanyan has chosen not to appeal the ruling in Azerbaijani courts.

“In Ruben’s case, of course, he has stated that he will not appeal in Azerbaijani courts, as they cannot be effective or protect the violated rights of Armenians,” she said.

The transfer of Vardanyan and other Armenian detainees to Umbaki prison shows what rights advocates describe as a broader pattern affecting Armenians captured during and after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Sahakyan reiterated that many of those now held in Azerbaijan were detained during the conflict and have since faced trials that Armenian officials and international observers have criticized as lacking fairness.

The move to a penitentiary facility signals that their cases have entered a new legal stage, with sentences now formally in effect.

For Vardanyan, the transfer marks a transition from pre-trial detention into long-term imprisonment — a development that his legal team and supporters say raises ongoing concerns about his rights, safety and access to international legal protections.

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