Ruben Vardanyan barred from addressing Azerbaijani ombudsperson, says family

Ruben Vardanyan, the former Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister and philanthropist wrongfully convicted in Azerbaijan, has been barred from delivering a message to Azerbaijan’s Ombudsperson, his family said in a statement.

Below is the full statement released by Vardanyan’s family.

“On 13 March, during a phone call with his family, Ruben Vardanyan attempted to deliver a public address to Azerbaijan’s Ombudsperson, Sabina Aliyeva. The call was forcibly terminated.

This address was an act of last resort: over the preceding ten days, Ruben had repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to reach her through his lawyer, written requests, and phone calls.

The trials took place a month ago. To date, neither Ruben nor the other Armenian prisoners have received the official texts of their verdicts – neither in Russian, nor in Armenian, nor in Azerbaijani. They do not know under which charges they were convicted, or when and where they will be transferred.

We are deeply concerned by the current situation. The absence of reliable information about his condition and the condition of other Armenian prisoners, combined with the dismantling of independent human rights mechanisms in Azerbaijan – including the departure of the International Committee of the Red Cross — leaves all prisoners without any institutional protection.

We also fear that even brief phone calls – the only remaining means of contact – may be cut off entirely.

We are publishing the audio recording of Ruben’s address to Azerbaijan’s Ombudsperson Sabina Aliyeva – an address he was not permitted to complete.

We hope that this appeal will reach its intended recipient,” Vardanyan’s family said. 

They also released the audio recording.

Earlier in February, Vardanyan decided not to file an appeal against the 20-year prison sentence handed down by an Azerbaijani military court, widely seen as a wrongful conviction following a sham trial. The announcement was made by his family in a statement posted on social media. Vardanyan said that filing an appeal would imply recognition that the trial met at least minimal standards of law, whereas it was, in fact, a “staged performance.”