Ruben Vardanyan Takes 20-Year Azerbaijan Prison Sentence to European Court of Human Rights

Former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan has taken his case to the European Court of Human Rights. This is his first international legal challenge to the 20-year prison sentence handed down by an Azerbaijani military court earlier this year.

The application was filed July 19 by human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, who represents Armenian detainees before the Strasbourg-based court. In a statement published on Vardanyan's official Facebook page, Sahakyan said she will act as his legal representative throughout the proceedings.

The complaint argues that Azerbaijan violated eight provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights during Vardanyan's prosecution. According to Sahakyan, the filing lays out detailed legal and factual arguments challenging both the trial and the conviction.

The Baku Military Court sentenced Vardanyan to 20 years in prison on Feb. 17. The court did not read the full verdict in open session. After his family later obtained a copy of the ruling, it showed that he had been convicted on 41 counts under 21 articles of Azerbaijan's Criminal Code.

Sahakyan said the verdict failed to present evidence establishing Vardanyan's individual criminal responsibility. Instead, she said the court concluded that the former administration of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh constituted a "criminal community" that had existed since 1988 and claimed Vardanyan became part of it in December 2020, even though he was living in Moscow at the time.

According to the complaint, Azerbaijani judges treated Vardanyan's appointment to a civilian government position in Nagorno-Karabakh as a violent seizure of power. His business and charitable work were described as illegal entrepreneurship and the financing of terrorism, while his entry into Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin Corridor was classified as an illegal crossing of Azerbaijan's state border.

Vardanyan did not appeal the verdict in Azerbaijan because he believed the trial had been predetermined and that the country's legal system offered no effective remedy, Sahakyan said.

"It is impossible to protect one's rights within a system that inherently denies the right to a fair trial," Sahakyan said. "In these circumstances, he chose to seek justice through international legal mechanisms."

Vardanyan has been held in Azerbaijani custody since September 2023, following Azerbaijan's military offensive and the forced displacement of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh. He is among eight former Artsakh political and military leaders imprisoned in Azerbaijan.

According to Armenian authorities, Azerbaijan is currently holding 19 Armenians in custody.

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