- Ruzanna Stepanian
A Yerevan-based lawyer representing Ruben Vardanyan, a prominent Armenian businessman jailed in Azerbaijan, said on Friday that she is preparing to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against a 20-year prison sentence given to him early this year.
“We are in the preparatory phase, the case will be filed in a few weeks,” Siranush Sahakian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“We will demonstrate that the accusation is political, that no individual criminal act was ever committed by Vardanyan,” she said. “The [Karabakh Armenians’] collective right to self-determination has been illegally qualified [by Baku] as terrorism.”
Vardanyan, who held the second-highest post in Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership from November 2022 to February 2023, was arrested at an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin corridor in September 2023 as he fled the region along with its practically entire ethnic Armenian population. Seven other former Karabakh Armenian leaders were also arrested during the exodus that followed an Azerbaijani military offensive.
Five of them were sentenced to life imprisonment while the two others as well as Vardanyan received 20-year jail sentences in February at the end of yearlong trials denounced by Amnesty International as a “travesty.” They all denied a long list of accusations brought against them.
Unlike them, Vardanyan decided not to appeal against his sentence, saying that he does not want to legitimize the “politically motivated and unlawful” case.
Sahakian said that Azerbaijani authorities have made the appeal to the ECHR possible by finally providing Vardanyan’s legal team with the full text of the guilty verdict against him. In her words, they remain reluctant to do so with regard to the seven other former Karabakh leaders as well as either other Armenians remaining in Azerbaijani captivity.
“I think they are trying to hinder the process of filing international appeals,” the lawyer claimed.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other Armenian officials insist that Yerevan has been doing its best to try to secure the release of the Armenian prisoners. Their critics dismiss these assurances. Vardanyan has likewise repeatedly accused the Armenian government of being indifferent to the prisoners’ fate. He has repeatedly lambasted Pashinian in statements from an Azerbaijani prison released through his family.
Davit Ishkhanian, another former Karabakh leader held in Azerbaijan, has gone farther, saying that Armenia’s leadership does not want Baku to free them. Ishkhanian repeated his claims in another audio message publicized by his family on Thursday.
“They [Azerbaijani officials] treat international bodies and the court with scorn and contempt,” he said. “The worst thing is that they simply throw such thoughts in our faces: ‘If your authorities are not doing anything and are not interested in your return, what do you want from international bodies or courts?’”
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Pashinian Undeterred By Iran’s Concerns Over ‘Trump Route’
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has made clear that he remains committed to opening a U.S.-run transit corridor for Azerbaijan along Armenia’s border with Iran “as soon as possible” despite Tehran’s lingering concerns.
“We are transparent in this matter and are ready to answer any questions,” Pashinian told reporters on Thursday. “We just need to understand what exactly the concern is about, and it must be dispelled.”
“This is a global project … and we want to start its implementation as soon as possible,” he said. “The American side is also interested in it. It is necessary to ensure the procedures in a normal way so that the first works on the ground begin at least this fall.”
Pashinian responded to the Iranian ambassador in Yerevan, Khalil Shirgholami. The latter said on Wednesday that the Armenian government must address his country’s “very legitimate and logical” concerns over the planned Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s strategic Syunik region.
Shirgholami called for the creation of a “mechanism” to manage “potential risks of U.S. presence and threats to Iran” emanating from the TRIPP. He said the U.S. and Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic underlined the perceived risks.
Tehran fears that the transit arrangement could endanger its border with Armenia and lead to U.S. security presence there. Pashinian, who met with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on July 3, said that it should on the contrary be interested in the project’s implementation.
“With the implementation of the TRIPP project, we will open a railway connection from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, as a result of which opportunities for trade and economic relations between Armenia and Iran will significantly expand,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a bilateral framework agreement on practical modalities of the TRIPP in the run-up to Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections in which Washington openly supported Pashinian. Under that agreement, a U.S. government will gain a 74 percent stake in a joint venture that should build and manage a railway, a road, energy supply lines and other infrastructure in the corridor.
The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan reported on Friday that a team of engineers from the U.S. consulting firm AECOM again visited Armenia and “surveyed the TRIPP site for rail and other infrastructure development” last week. It gave no other details.
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Kocharian Trial Judge ‘Not Influenced’ By Pashinian’s Threats
- Karlen Aslanian
The judge presiding over Robert Kocharian’s ongoing trial insisted on Friday that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s recent pledges to jail the former Armenian president leading a major opposition group will not influence his decisions.
Campaigning for the June 7 parliamentary elections, Pashinian repeatedly vowed to “bring to their knees” and “take out” Kocharian and the leaders of the two other main opposition contenders. He also said that they will go to jail if he wins reelection. One of them, Gagik Tsarukian, was demonstratively arrested on Monday.
Kocharian brought up those statements during the latest session of his trial, triggering tense exchanges with the presiding judge, Sargis Petrosian.
“This is a political order,” said the 71-year-old ex-president. “While such orders were previously sent by text messages, they are now being issued publicly.”
“Those statements do not and cannot have any impact on my administration of justice in any way,” countered Petrosian. He said Kocharian must either trust him or demand that another judge take over the trial.
Kocharian’s lawyers already demanded in November 2024 that Petrosian recuse himself from the case because of his past links to the ruling Civil Contract party. The 36-year-old judge rejected the demand. He downplayed the fact that he was affiliated with Civil Contract before taking the bench in June 2024.
Kocharian, his former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and two retired army generals are prosecuted again in connection with a 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. They were cleared of “overthrow of the constitutional order” by another judge in April 2021 after Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the accusation, rejected by them as politically motivated, is unconstitutional.
Prosecutors appealed against the acquittal, saying that they must be allowed to bring a different accusation also related to the events of March 2008, which left eight protesters and two police personnel dead. The Court of Cassation gave the green light for the new trial in September 2024.
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RFE/RL – Another Pashinian Critic Fired From State Job
Armenia’s leading university has fired a prominent pro-opposition lawyer, the latest in a series of sackings of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s critics or their relatives working in the public sector.
Ruben Melikian has taught law at Yerevan State University (YSU) for the last 23 years. Melikian says that its pro-government rector, Hovannes Hovannisian, notified him earlier this week that his part-time employment contract will not be renewed in September. Hovannisian did not explain the decision, according to him.
“I believe that this is a result of my human rights advocacy,” Melikian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday.
A vocal critic of the Armenian government, Melikian has represented arrested opposition activists throughout Pashinian’s eight-year rule. He linked this removal from YSU to a wave of arrests of Armenian opposition leaders, members and supporters which continued after last month’s disputed parliamentary elections.
The YSU administration has still not commented on the sacking. Contacted by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Hovannisian declined to say whether Melikian was indeed pushed out because of his views and activities. The rector represented the ruling Civil Contract party in the Armenian parliament before taking over the country’s largest and oldest university.
Melikian said that two other YSU lecturers at odds with the government were also dismissed in recent days. One of them, political scientist Alen Ghulian, is currently under arrest on what he sees as politically motivated charges, while the other, Shushan Vartanian, could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Last month, the YSU administration controversially abolished the university’s Foreign Literature Chair headed by Anush Sedrakian, another Pashinian critic. It denied any political reasons for the move.
Later in June, a state college in the town of Armavir sacked its administrator and lecturer Hayastan Hakobian who ran in the June 7 as a candidate of the main opposition Strong Armenia alliance. Hakobian pledged to challenge her dismissal in court, saying that she lost her job “due to my political views.” The college director denied that.
Quite a few other individuals holding managerial positions in the public sector have reportedly also been told to resign or sacked in recent months because of being related to oppositionists or critical of the government. They include Lilit Ghazarian, the sister of another Strong Armenia member who ran for the parliament.
Ghazarian served as deputy head of the Armenian government’s drug regulatory agency for 22 years. She said that her boss told her to resign for “known reasons” the day after the June 7 elections. She said she refused before being notified that her position has been abolished.
Around the same time, a local government employee in a northern Armenian village claimed to have been forced to resign because of dismissing as misleading the official election results in her community.
Vartan Harutiunian, a civic activist and Soviet-era dissident, suggested that these dismissals are part of an ongoing “political persecution of people with opposition views.”
“As it turned out, what the people fought against [during the ‘velvet revolution’] in 2018 is still happening today,” said Harutiunian. “It looks like we are going to need another year 2018.”
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Moscow’s oil refinery has again been hit by anti-aircraft missiles against the capital
The oil refinery in Moscow’s Kapotnya district, which was attacked by drones twice in June, caught fire again on Friday, according to videos released by monitoring channels.
Thick black smoke rises from the 14-million-ton-a-year plant, which provided about a third of the capital’s fuel consumption. At night, the capital was attacked by at least 14 drones, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said. According to him, all of them were wounded.
In total, according to the data of the Ministry of Defense, the Russian air defense system “destroyed” 376 drones. The Ilsk oil refinery in the Krasnodar Territory, the port terminal “Kurgannefteprodukt” LLC in Taganrog, the Azov oil base and the “Azov Optical Mechanical Plant” (AOMG), which produces targets and thermal images for missiles, aircraft and armored vehicles, were also hit.
The Moscow oil refinery of Gazprom Neft, which produces 3 million tons of gasoline and the same amount of diesel fuel annually, was attacked on June 16 and 18, after which it stopped production of oil products. At the plant, according to Reuters sources, two primary oil processing facilities were damaged. Their repair may be delayed until 2027, the interlocutors of the agency said.
In the case of a pessimistic scenario, the cost of remedial repairs at the Moscow oil refinery may amount to $1 billion, the analysts of the “Sinara” investment bank estimated. According to their calculations, the restoration of the plant’s work may take up to a year.
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The Kremlin commented on the publications about the sale of S-400s by Turkey
Russia is in contact with Turkey regarding the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems supplied to that country. Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the head of state, announced this during the briefing.
“Here I can say only one thing. this topic belongs to a very sensitive area. We had contacts with the Turkish side on this topic. And we will continue the contacts,” answered the representative of the Kremlin.
Earlier, the pro-government Turkish Hürriyet newspaper reported that the S-400s that Turkey once bought from Russia were sold to one of the Persian Gulf countries. According to him, the deal will be announced soon. Peskov was asked if Ankara applied for a sales permit and how Moscow reacted.
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In the case of Ruben Vardanyan, the human rights defender will apply to the ECHR
Human rights defender Siranush Sahakyan is going to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of the former Minister of State of Artsakh, philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, who was imprisoned in Azerbaijan for almost three years and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The international law specialist notes that they finally managed to get Vardanyan’s verdict, which was necessary to start a process at the European Court.
“We are in the preparatory stage, after weeks the case will be submitted,” Sahakyan told Azatut. “In the case of Ruben Vardanyan, we will show that the accusation is political, no individual criminal act was ever carried out by Vardanyan. The right to collective self-determination has been illegally qualified as terrorism, while there can be no punishment without an act provided for by law,” the human rights defender emphasized.
As for the other 15 Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan’s prisons, among whom is the former military-political leadership of Artsakh, Baku still refuses to provide them and their public defenders with the verdicts that were published eight months ago. In other words, the 15 Armenian prisoners are still deprived of the opportunity to get acquainted with their verdicts, in particular, what actions were attributed to them and based on what evidence.
“I think they are trying to hinder the process of submitting international complaints, and we also do not rule out that the verdict is not even finalized, because the trial itself was fictitious, and the outcome of the trial was shaped by a political order. I think it takes time for the entire law enforcement system to present some reasons in that judicial act, because they realize that these processes are transferred to international courts,” said the international law specialist.
Human rights defender Siranush Sahakyan says that in order to apply to the European Court of Human Rights, it is necessary to have the judgments. If the judicial authorities of Azerbaijan continue not to provide it, they will receive it already through the ECHR. The Inter-Asia Court made an interim decision, according to which the authorities of Azerbaijan must submit the verdicts of 15 Armenian citizens to the European Court by August 31.
“If they don’t give it to the European Court, we will have allegations of violation of human rights of a new quality here, I think the Azerbaijani authorities will not go that way and will at least give the judgments to the court,” emphasized Sahakyan.
In February, the Baku military court sentenced 16 Armenian prisoners, including the military-political leadership of Artsakh, to life or long imprisonment.
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Aregnaz Manukyan was denied the opportunity to even see his own child
Yesterday, we were in the courtyard of the court with Anna Grigoryan and Christine Vardanyan, inside the court, in a closed session, the issue of the restraining order against our former deputy colleague, Aregnaz Manukyan, was being examined. Agnesa Khamoyan, deputy of the National Assembly “Armenia” faction, wrote about this on her Facebook page.
In particular, he noted: “The session lasted quite short, 1.5 hours. And although it was obvious that Aregnaz was going to be detained, deep down we cherished a woman’s hope that the fact that the woman had a minor child could prevent the judge from taking Aregnaz into custody. But no, the arrest decision was already on the judge’s shelf, the investigator’s petition was completely satisfied.
And this is despite the fact that Aregnaz’s apartment was searched weeks ago, he knew months ago from various sources that a case would be opened, and during all that time he did not hide from the investigation, he did not even try.
This proves once again that the decision to use the most severe preventive measure, detention, is a political order and never the implementation of justice.
But even this was not the biggest absurdity. the manifestation of petty revenge and vindictiveness is that the judge deprived the female opposition politician of the opportunity to even see her own child. Aregnaz meetings are completely closed.
This is Nikol Pashinyan’s message to all female opposition figures: I will hit your weakest point, your children. Nothing can be more terrible for a woman than not seeing her child. But I am sure that Aregnaz will go through this test, will pass with honor, as Lidia, Lilit, Tatev and many other women have passed.
Nikol Pashinyan is wrong in his calculations. mothers do not become poor, but become beasts when the hands of others reach their children. Know well.
I have known Aregnaz since his years as a journalist and I can confidently say that he is a principled, stubborn and strong person who does not betray his own ideas. We express our full support to his family and will do everything possible to change the restraining order.”
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Ararat cement factory has resumed its production process
RA Deputy Economy Minister Edgar Zakaryan visited the Ararat cement factory today and got acquainted with the organization of the production process. During the tour, he was accompanied by the general director of the factory.
Edgar Zakaryan expressed the readiness of the Ministry to support the solution of possible obstacles arising during the production activity of the factory.
Referring to the process of restoration of the factory, the deputy minister noted that the uninterrupted and continuous process of the production process is important both from the point of view of maintaining the industrial potential and promoting economic activity.
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Verelq: The municipality “clarified” Gagik Tsarukyan’s move of animals
The press secretary of the mayor of Yerevan stated that Gagik Tsarukyan’s proposal to transfer the animals to the zoo was conditioned solely by the need to ensure the safety and professional care of the animals.
“The proposal of the municipality to transfer Gagik Tsarukyan’s animals to the zoo was the top topic of speculation in the last two days. The main thesis is to connect the investigative actions related to the businessman and the leader of the political force and the proposal to provide the most suitable and safe shelter for the animals at this stage and, which was the most absurd, to present the painful fact of the fall of one of the animals as a political revenge.
Yes, it was very unfortunate that one of the animals, in particular the female lion, did not wake up after sedation, but this is a professional conversation in the range of steps and possible mistakes, which could be assumed and subjectively or objectively disputed, but at least it was not difficult to predict that the fact of the lion’s fall would be politicized, attributed to intention, generating a whole theory of conspiracy, which is not so much sympathy as manipulation, a tool to quickly package up a sorry case and target people, simple demonization.
Leaving aside the controversial provision of the right to keep large numbers of animals in private areas, let’s record a fact: due to the legal process, the animals had to be moved to an area, which is the only one in our country, where they could be reintegrated and be under the constant care and care of specialists, this was the only, non-political, exclusively environmental motivation for the proposal and relocation,” wrote the press secretary of Yerevan Mayor.
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