Baku court rejects Ruben Vardanyan’s appeal

The philanthropist detained by the Azerbaijani authorities and his lawyer demanded to cancel the arrest decision. But the court presided by Gadim Babayev studied the case materials and found the complaint unfounded.

We would like to remind that Ruben Vardanyan was arrested in September 2023 when leaving NKR for Armenia. He has been in Baku prison since then. The Azerbaijani authorities have already repeatedly postponed the date of the trial. Probably, the prosecution expects the case to be considered in the most closed way, without international observers.

Well-known Armenian lawyer Siranush Sahakyan noted that the trial of political prisoners in Baku, including Ruben Vardanyan, will take place not earlier than 2025.

“It is clear that the accusations are of a political nature, and the judges are not independent and fully operate in an environment of Armenianophobia, where they apply their own approach to the problem.

In addition to these problems, we also notice another negative trend: if at the initial stage arrest terms could be extended for four months, now we see extension for five months. In the recent period, in the case of extension, the term of arrest is not even specified, which is unacceptable, because international standards require that detention as a preventive measure should be applied with the indication of clear terms,” said Siranush Sahakyan.