11 months in captivity: chronicle of Ruben Vardanyan’s detention
Philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan has been in Baku pre-trial detention center for 11 months. Azerbaijan illegally detained the social entrepreneur on September 27, 2023 when he was trying to leave Artsakh for Armenia.
In May, the court extended Vardanyan’s arrest for another five months. The philanthropist’s team found this move unreasonable.
Because of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) that will take place in Baku in November, the organization named Free Armenian Prisoners has demanded that Azerbaijan release Vardanyan and other illegally detained Armenians. The movement called on the international community to pay attention to the fact that the next session of the conference will be held in a country that grossly violates human rights.
In June, Moscow hosted the premiere of the movie “Being Human. Ruben Vardanyan’s Manifesto”. A documentary by the famous entrepreneur Artyom Agabekov was presented in the Noodome club space. The businessman explained that he wanted to highlight Vardanyan’s way of thinking through the people with whom he was in close contact. The movie featured friends and business partners of the philanthropist, who told about his educational and humanitarian projects, as well as explained why he decided to move to Artsakh in the midst of the war.
In early July, Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of the interests of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human Rights, stated the need to ensure foreign presence at court hearings in the case of Vardanyan and other former leaders of Artsakh. This, she believes, will create a counterbalance to Azerbaijani pressure and allow violations to be recorded.
Soon the British magazine Express published an article by former UN Global Compact Deputy Prime Minister Paul Polman on the international community’s reaction to the illegal arrest of Vardanyan and other former Artsakh officials. The UN, he says, must demand that Azerbaijan release all Armenian prisoners before the COP29 summit, as well as reconsider the selection of host countries in the future.
In mid-July, the Territorial Development Agency “We Are Our Mountains” signed a cooperation agreement with the French union “In Support of Artsakh”. Grigory Martirosyan, General Director of the agency, expressed confidence that the joint work promises to be fruitful.
The significance of the appeal filed by Vardanyan’s lawyers with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture was noted on July 17 by the American lawyer Garnik Kerkonyan. He suggested that Azerbaijan might start treating prisoners more humanely as a result, and also allowed for increased international support for the prisoners.
Former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo called the upcoming COP29 an unprecedented opportunity for the release of Vardanyan and other Armenian prisoners. Before the event, Armenians from all over the world should launch a large-scale information campaign in support of their compatriots illegally held by Azerbaijan, he said.
The charitable initiatives launched by Vardanyan continue to help ordinary people. For example, in Armenia the project on inclusive tourism “Accessible Dilijan” was launched – an application with a virtual guide with a sign language interpreter will make it easier for deaf and hearing impaired tourists to get acquainted with the sights of the region. The initiative was implemented within the framework of the Dilijan Development Program, which had been launched in 2012 by spouses Ruben Vardanyan and Veronica Zonabend.