By Paul Vartan Sookiasian
Prosecutors in Azerbaijan this week have presented massive criminal cases against former Nagorno-Karabakh senior officials and prisoners of war. The indictment against former state minister Ruben Vardanyan alone comprises 45 potential new charges alleged within a 100-volume dossier that could result in a sentence of life imprisonment, according to his defense team.
Another criminal case, referred to the Baku Military Court, combines charges against 15 other captives, including former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan. The case alleges 1,389 separate incidents over a period of almost 40 years against the accused.
Most of the prisoners have been detained since September 2023 when they were captured after an Azerbaijani military attack on Karabakh resulted in the collapse of the breakaway republic and forced displacement of almost its entire population.
According to a press release from Free Armenian Prisoners, the alleged evidence against Vardanyan is being kept secret on grounds of the “national security of Azerbaijan.” Azerbaijani authorities have refused to provide copies of any evidence to Vardanyan or his counsel. Vardanyan’s legal team has only been able to review the material on a limited basis, without a proper translation or the ability to take notes.
“These charges represent a flagrant violation of Azerbaijan’s obligations under international law”
said Vardanyan’s legal counsel, Jared Genser. “This approach is clearly designed for [Azerbaijani president Ilham] Aliyev to justify holding a secret trial before a tribunal that will be neither independent nor impartial.” Last week, Genser, who is American, criticized Azerbaijani authorities for apparently banning him from entering Azerbaijan to visit his client.
Vardanyan’s family meanwhile are calling on the world to ensure international organizations and media are present during the trial, as they warn these charges signal a new escalation in Aliyev’s silencing of dissenting voices.
“The most recent charges against my father are a travesty of justice and retribution for the failures of COP29 upon an innocent scapegoat,” said Ruben’s son David Vardanyan.
Over the past year, the remaining vestiges of independent media and social activists have been arrested, despite the global spotlight of COP29. Now that it has passed, Aliyev appears to be even more emboldened in his crackdown, arresting earlier this month editors and reporters from Meydan TV, known as Azerbaijan’s largest exile-based independent media outlet.
In this atmosphere, there is little hope that Vardanyan’s trial will adhere to international standards, which many expect will amount to a politicized show trial.
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