“When Ruben became the state minister of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), many people asked me, out of habit, why he did it.
I understood that he could not have acted differently so that he could tell himself in the future that he had done his best.
So I also cannot help but write a few lines to attract attention.
In politics, alas, there are no friends, there are only interests, and I see that nobody is interested in Ruben now, and that makes me very sad and hurt. If you type ‘Ruben Vardanyan hunger strike’ into Google in English, it will be Russian or Armenian sources, nothing in the world press, only on page three there is Reuters, and it is news about last year’s hunger strike.
There is media coverage — there is a person. No media coverage — no person.
We met Ruben during my enrollment at Skolkovo in the spring of 2010, we saw each other regularly in 2010–2011, and after Skolkovo I was on Ruben’s team in 2012–2013. I thought that after graduation I would go into strategy consulting (I had interviews at McKinsey, BCG, Bain etc.), but I finally decided that I wanted to work with Ruben. It is impossible to do one thing with Ruben. In addition to the integration of Troika and Sberbank, I was involved in the Skolkovo endowment, evaluated Ruben’s personal investment projects with my team, was at times an alternate director in Ruben’s place, Ruben and I regularly went to fundraising meetings on Skolkovo and the school under construction in Dilijan, and much more.
I remember some cases that I would like to share.
We were driving across India from Mysore to Bangalore. On the highway, Ruben offered to have lunch, and we went to a regular café on the highway, Ruben invited the cab driver to join us at the table.
In May 2013, we flew to Armenia, a school was under construction in Dilijan. I was also present at Ruben’s meeting with the Armenian project team. I watched and thought that Ruben is a man of world scale. Ruben said that we as Armenians have been preserved through language and faith, and now not only Armenia, but the world in general needs the human and moral qualities and vision for the development of the country/region/world for decades to come that Ruben has.
Ruben has helped so many people/organizations around the world, I wish someone would help Ruben in return now.”
“When I see Ruben Vardanyan’s condition in Baku captivity, at this trial, the first sensations are helplessness replaced by rage…..
Then gradually I remember the last meeting with Ruben Vardanyan in Moscow before his departure first to Armenia and later to Artsakh, and I get goosebumps.
At this meeting with representatives of the diaspora, Ruben Vardanyan, discussing what kind of leader Armenia needs now, said: “Today we do not need a leader who will lead the crowd, but we need someone who can sacrifice himself and his personal ambitions for the sake of the interests of the state and the nation.”
At that time, I didn’t quite understand what it meant….
And now I see a man who is outwardly exhausted, but so strong in spirit, who did what he told us earlier, he literally sacrificed himself, although he could have lived for his own pleasure.
But will his sacrifice be appreciated by the Armenian people? Whether his sacrifice will become a new symbol of the struggle for our people’s freedom and right to their own land, I don’t know….
In the future, we do not have even the slightest right to allow our citizens, our leaders of any level to be captured and judged by our enemy, it is time to end the lethargic sleep and helplessness!!!”
“…I thought about Ruben Vardanyan, who is now in an Azerbaijan prison, being subjected to an unfair trial and torture. About a man who chose to be with his people at the most difficult moment, but whom many have already forgotten. We often talk about national unity, but when the time comes to act, we remain indifferent to the suffering of our brothers and sisters.
And I realized something important: I am proud to have a friend who not only remembers me with kindness when I am not around, but also stands firmly for the rights of Armenians. But at the same time, it saddens me that we as a nation often fail to appreciate those compatriots who dedicate their lives to our future.
Ruben, no matter where you are or what circumstances you are facing, I want you to know that as a friend, I am with you. May you have the strength to know that you are not alone and that your bravery continues to inspire us all.”
“Look at the photo of Ruben Vardanyan taken during the last session of the Baku trial and farce. Look at his face, full of dignity, strength, profound peace and wisdom. For the likes of Aliyev and Pashinyan, this inner strength of Ruben is the most intolerable thing. There is no way they can influence him and his will with the usual threats, blackmail, manipulation, aggression, torture, and the loss of influence and control is their worst nightmare. I’m sure deep in their psyche they are torn apart by rage and inability to break Ruben — such is the underlying psychic dynamic in those who have chosen power and force as their primary survival mechanism.
Ruben-jan, I know that in your will, in your spiritual, moral, ethical strength you are an unshakable rock. Just hold on physically. We are fighting our hardest for you and will continue to do so no matter what.
#freeArmenianHostages
#freeRubenVardanyan
#freeArmenianPrisoners»
“When I lived in Artsakh, the most frustrating thing for me was that with almost every new acquaintance I had to explain why I came here. At first I even cried, realizing that throwing yourself into any difficulties just because you love your country madly is not really perceived as something natural and normal.
In July, we met Ruben Vardanyan in Kolatak — he came to Akobavank. I looked at him and thought: “I wonder why he really came here? What has he lost here?” And you, what have you lost? It hurts you when you left your wonderful family and normal life for a blockade, and a lot of people don’t understand your motives even after two years. And what to say about him, who left billions, an incredibly important and meaningful life, does an incomparably larger cause, but even you look for ulterior motives in his actions. At what point did it become so difficult and unnatural for us to believe simple things?
Ruben’s message was hard. A lesson in dignity and spiritual strength. You can spend a long time thinking about each paragraph. I’m thinking about this:
“I am a person who wants to live, love and continue my activities. But I believe that what I am doing is right, because it is the only way to bring you out of indifference”.
There’s probably nothing we can do for Ruben himself. It remains to be seen whether we can do something for ourselves to get out of this indifference.
#freeRubenVardanyan»
“UWC Dilijan co-founder Ruben Vardanyan calls for true and lasting peace in an audio message from a Baku prison. His vision of fostering peace through education inspired him and his wife Veronica Zonabend, who co-founded the school, to create UWC Dilijan more than 10 years ago. Their commitment to peace is deeply aligned with UWC’s mission to make education a force that unites people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.”
“One day at a conference, I asked.
Even then I was scared. Of course. Me and him, he’s a billionaire! Ugh…
But I asked. In person. And Ruben Vardanyan answered me. He told me when my business was a total failure. I was young and stupid, I didn’t know, I was searching. I wanted changes. Otherwise, failure.
He answered very simply, calmly and matter-of-factly. He said: believe (that’s the main thing), be afraid (that’s normal), do (that’s important) and, most importantly, be responsible for your achievements in word and deed (he then jumped with a parachute, having reached another goal, wildly afraid of heights).
It was 2013, the year of changes, the year of faith, the year when I radically changed the direction of my business. Ruben was (and is) able to say things like no one else. He will never criticize. He will never say you’re wrong. He will never be a judge. He will never get in the way. He is just there. He is here. He’s a mentor, he’s something that gets to the root of things. He’s not evil, he’s not kind, he’s just over.
And what is happening now… It’s painful, it’s scary, it’s… Now I’m very scared about what will happen to him. There’s no leverage right now. Right now I just want him to be safe, with his family, and not there.
But there is faith. It’s been that kind of year. Faith is strong. It’s here, it’s with us. And Ruben will be with us. There’s more to come. So be it. Otherwise, what’s it all for?”
“I’ll tell you about one amazing story that I witnessed. I will tell you about what became my role model and the starting point for my own subsequent activity as its essence, basis and foundation.
Hardly anyone knows about it, I am sure there were many such stories of saving lives and true non-public charity in Ruben Vardanyan’s life….
It happened in the early 2000s, my sister’s neighbor was Ruben Vardanyan’s schoolteacher.
Her little grandson had a severe form of diabetes.
Ruben not only helped with expensive and long-term treatment, got the child’s mother a job, but also, having bought this family an apartment in Moscow, completely shielded them from household problems.
A few years later, the child’s grandmother called my sister in hysterics: her daughter was in intensive care in critical condition.
While my sister was rushing to the hospital to talk to the doctors, her neighbor, who is also the grandmother of the saved grandson, who is also the mother of the daughter dying in intensive care, who is also Ruben Vardanyan’s school teacher, was trying to find him, calling all the known phone numbers.
It turned out that the young woman’s liver had failed as a result of a sluggish long-term disease, and a transplant was urgently needed.
The time was limited to a day, two days at most.
Do you know what it is to find a donor liver in Moscow in one day?
Ruben responded, reacted reactively, helped and solved the issue immediately, instantly, fundamentally.
The liver was found overnight, the woman was transferred to the Institute of Transplantology, the operation was successful, and she is still alive and well.
But we are not Ruben, we do not act in time and promptly, we can only grumble and watch.
Resent and lose.
Without drawing conclusions, we can only watch on.
And constantly lamenting, we can sprinkle our heads with ashes.”
“Ruben Vardanyan was first on the list of those I planned to interview when I moved to Moscow in 2004 to live, work and look after the health of my son, who was young at the time.
It was both my desire to get to know a businessman who was unusual by Moscow standards, and an editorial assignment.
I had neither common acquaintances with Ruben nor his phone number. But I found in the Moscow news announcement a conference where he was supposed to speak, and I went there.
He was the most accessible to journalists of all Russian businessmen.
The first time we met, we talked for over an hour and agreed to become friends.
The first time we met, I was surprised by his enthusiasm.
He would throw himself into any project he did and infect everyone around him with his ideas.
This is how the school in Dilijan was built, this is how Wings of Tatev was built, this is how he created Aurora. “It’s time for us to stop expecting mercy from the world. It’s time for us to give this mercy.”
And Ruben is also a very plain man. One day, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan was supposed to speak at the Armenian Embassy in Moscow. The solemn hall of the Embassy was ready, all the seats in the hall were occupied, the Prime Minister did not start his speech: they were waiting for Ruben Vardanyan. He was a little late and was escorted to his front row seat. Ruben sat down and the Prime Minister began to speak. And Ruben suddenly saw me standing by the aisle. All the seats in the audience were taken. And he stood up, came up to me and offered me his seat. Of course, I didn’t sit down. And so we stood together and listened to the Prime Minister, who wanted to convince those gathered that everything in Armenia is not as bad as the press writes…
One day, just a couple months after the 2018 revolution, I asked Ruben what was bothering him so much. His answer stunned me. I don’t remember the exact words, but the meaning was as follows: I have the impression that they are “squeezing” our Motherland out of us, doing everything to make us stop loving it. It won’t work, of course, but the process itself is very nasty and painful.
Ruben-jan, please hold on. You have no idea how much we need you! Hold on, please!”
“My friend Ruben Vardanyan, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Armenian philanthropist and political prisoner, has spent 486 days (to date) in detention in Azerbaijan. His trial is currently ongoing behind closed doors, in secrecy, with violations of procedural norms. It is not only about one person. Ruben’s case is a litmus test of global justice, freedom of the press and the power of collective action. It is time to act”.
“Azerbaijan shows the whole world what it means to be an executioner and torturer. Ruben is a martyr for the idea and the Motherland, he is a victim of all past and present Armenian governments that failed to reunite Artsakh and Armenia”.
“Today we face a painful reality. Ruben has been in detention in Azerbaijan for 471 days. These illegal actions, which are purely politically motivated, violate justice and human rights.
I am honored to have known Ruben Vardanyan for many years. I speak with deep admiration for a man who has always distinguished himself as a visionary activist and devoted patriot.
By carrying out charitable initiatives and educational programs, Ruben has proven that true success is about improving people’s lives and creating value. The establishment of the Aurora Award is a testament to his deep belief in the power of compassion, human resilience and hope.
Ruben Vardanyan’s dedication to the Armenian nation and universal values is truly exceptional. He is the embodiment of integrity and compassion, qualities that inspire. I am proud to call Ruben my friend and I look forward to the day when he can continue to implement initiatives that change the world for the better.
Today more than ever, we must support Ruben. His courage and dedication not only deserve our support, but require our combined efforts to secure his freedom and protect the values he embodies”.
“Ruben Vardanyan has made serious allegations of violations of his human rights, including ill-treatment in detention, being forced to sign falsified case files, and being deprived of the opportunity to prepare his defense. The authorities must promptly, thoroughly, independently, impartially and effectively investigate these serious allegations and hold those suspected of these violations accountable.
The authorities must grant Ruben Vardanyan full access to his lawyers, as well as adequate time and opportunity to prepare his defense. The international community must closely follow this high-profile case to guarantee Ruben Vardanyan’s right to a fair trial and justice”.
“As State Minister, the second most important position in the capital, Stepanakert, Mr. Vardanyan hoped to draw the world’s attention to Armenians who faced the threat of extermination.
Conspiracy theories followed. Some claimed that Mr. Vardanyan had been sent by Moscow to turn the republic into a Russian protectorate, others that he was to facilitate its surrender to Azerbaijan. The simple explanation, that a person might aspire to something more than money and comfort, or be driven by romantic ideas such as patriotism or justice, seemed far less likely. And certainly less comfortable for those who had never been inspired by such ideas.
Conspiracy theories about Ruben Vardanyan continued even after Azerbaijan returned to Artsakh in 2023, ethnically cleansing its indigenous Armenian population, looting its churches and cemeteries, and liberating the land from Armenian presence for the first time in thousands of years. They continued even when Azerbaijan arrested Mr. Vardanyan himself, along with 15 other former officials.
And yet, as the trial of Armenian political prisoners begins behind closed doors in Baku, these few photographs show us something we cannot deny – something we recognize as historical memory. Deprived of a lawyer and water, emaciated to the bone, rejected by Russia that created him, ignored by the West whose values he romanticized, abandoned by his own Armenian government, standing for the last time to face his life sentence, Ruben Vardanyan looks at last like a real Armenian”.
“We cannot accept the very idea of Ruben’s existence. We deny it. We do not accept that such a person can exist.
A person who can earn a lot of money honestly, remain a man with sparkling eyes and pure thoughts, walk without guards, sit at the table with “commoners” without considering them as such, shake hands with the Pope and the Prince of Great Britain without having even a ghost of a thought of groveling before them, spend a lot of his own money and energy on projects that correspond to his values and not to his own benefit. We cannot accept that a person can have great knowledge and not stop developing, be able to create strong relationships, be generous, be real.
And worst of all, we do not want to recognize that a person can voluntarily endanger his life and the life of his family. Voluntarily. How can a huge number of successful people, who have made the most of donations in the terrible 2020 or 2023, recognize that there is a person who acted in such a way? How to accept that he sent his own son to serve in the army of Artsakh? No. It is easier for us to say that the son was just chilling in a sanatorium, not serving, and Ruben has just negotiated everything with either the Russians, or the British, or the aliens and Ilon Musk, and he will soon be released and given power over planet Earth, planet Saturn and half of Mars in addition.
We are all sinners, we are all mortal and we will all stand trial. And there will be no way to hide anything. Not a gray hair with paint, not a pimple with powder, not a hole in the conscience with money. You see, every man is just a man. Everyone has been given something and not given something. And I am not devaluing anyone’s actions by comparing them to Ruben’s. Everyone will be asked according to their abilities. Well, that is the whole point, to accept that we are different. And that there is someone who is cooler than you. Just cooler. Just the scale is different”.
“On the eve of the trial, political prisoner and Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan said that his lawyer and interpreter were forced to sign documents retroactively, including falsified protocols of interrogations that were not actually conducted. Ruben was not given the opportunity to get acquainted with the case in a language he understood, was tortured, forbidden to drink water and use toilet paper, and was subjected to other inhumane actions. And he is not the first to complain about prison conditions in Azerbaijan.
Vardanyan’s statement about violations of the lawyer’s defense and falsification of interrogation protocols is a serious violation that contradicts the fundamental principles of the right to a fair trial.
I would like to emphasize that Azerbaijan, violating the Geneva Conventions, refuses to return Armenian prisoners of war. The accusations against the former leadership of Artsakh and others are clearly political in nature. Allegations of terrorism and the establishment of illegal armed groups serve exclusively political interests and violate the norms of international humanitarian law.
In light of the above, I called on my international partners to demand that Azerbaijan comply with its international obligations and immediately return all Armenian prisoners to their homeland”.
“Recently Ruben Vardanyan was able to demonstrate to the public what kind of “criminal case” was fabricated by Azerbaijan and what kind of “trial” this country is preparing for him. The Armenian authorities, absorbed in their petty political revenge, have absolutely nothing to say about this “case” and “trial” initiated against an Armenian citizen.
The situation is terrible in several aspects. First, Pashinyan and his team are completely unconcerned about Armenia’s international prestige and dignity. Vardanyan thinks more about it in the most dire circumstances.
But there is an even more terrible thing: a group of government propagandists even now, in this situation, repeats the words of their “chief” and asks the question “Who sent Vardanyan to Artsakh?”, continuing to incite hatred towards him”.
“Humanity is a universal, all-human value, but this does not apply to Azerbaijan.
For more than 470 days our Artsakh, our presidents Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan and our other compatriots have been held hostage.
I am sure that each of us felt indescribable anxiety and pain after the message of Ruben Vardanyan, who is in the same inhuman situation.
The emerging “trial” is not jurisprudence, but a mockery of minimal humanitarian and internationally recognized norms, but the international community is silent.
No other member of the Council of Europe has had such an inhumane situation, but the Council of Europe is silent.
It is tragic that we exist in this reality, the silence of the international community is tragic, it is absurd that the interests of our compatriots are not protected in any way by today’s officials, who are vested with this duty of universal values”.
“So you live, create, do things to make the world a better place – for people of different nationalities, faiths, cultures. And then one day something like this happens, because someone has his own truth – perverted, absurd, defying logic.
There is no need to even talk about justice. It is long gone. I never cease to be amazed every time at what different worlds people live in… and how naive even such visionaries as Ruben Karlenovich can be sometimes.
Freedom to Ruben Vardanyan!
My heart aches for him and for people like him. But I continue to believe that he will still be able to do a lot of good things for this doomed world, which still needs hope…”
“The horrible story of our prisoners of war and political prisoners in Baku is turning into a real tragedy.
I stand by my position: the Government of Armenia must do everything possible to rescue its citizens (according to official data, 23 people, according to unofficial data, more than a hundred) from the Baku prison. This is a matter of State security and national dignity. Until this is done, no one, no one is safe from the hell in which our people are trapped”.
“The case of Ruben Vardanyan, a philanthropist and former state minister of the unrecognized republic, is being considered in a military court. Vardanyan, who has spent almost 500 days in Baku pre-trial detention center, was given only 9 days to get acquainted with 422 volumes of the case.
If it seems to some that the surrealism of the situation ends here, it does not: things are even worse. Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Human Rights Council, recently stated that Ruben Vardanyan is being forced to change his own lawyer for a state one.
Let me remind you that after Vardanyan’s illegal detention in the Lachin corridor on September 27, 2023, Azerbaijan accused the philanthropist of financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing the state border of Azerbaijan. But over time, the number of charges increased 14 times to 42 articles. It is worth noting separately that out of 422 volumes of the case, only six are related to Vardanyan, and all the others examine in detail the history of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1987 (Ruben Vardanyan was 19 years old at that time, he was studying at Moscow State University).
All of the above turns the trial of the man nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize into a farce. Or Kafka’s “The Trial”. In civilized countries, of which Azerbaijan sees itself as an integral part, such work of the legal system would be simply impossible to imagine”.
«Процесс над Рубеном Варданяном в Баку превратился в судилище: филантропа вынуждают сменить собственного адвоката на государственного, которого предоставил Азербайджан.
17 января в Баку начался суд над бывшими лидерами Нагорного Карабаха, которых задержали еще в сентябре 2023 года. При этом дело Рубена Варданяна, который три месяца занимал пост госминистра НКР, рассматривают отдельно. Власти Азербайджана предъявили ему 42 обвинения, по некоторым из них социальному предпринимателю грозит пожизненное.
Среди прочего Рубену Варданяну вменяют финансирование терроризма, создание незаконных вооруженных формирований и незаконное пересечение границы Азербайджана. Мировая общественность считает эти обвинения абсурдными, так как в Нагорном Карабахе известный в мире социальный предприниматель занимался исключительно гуманитарными проектами. Обвинения в нарушении границ тоже звучат неубедительно: Варданян въезжал в НКР через Лачинский коридор, и на тот момент упомянутой границы просто не существовало.
В пользу абсурдности судебного процесса над Рубеном Варданяном говорит и тот факт, что его заставляют сменить собственного адвоката на защитника, которого предоставил Азербайджан.
Самое любопытное, что из 422 томов уголовного дела 416 посвящены подробной истории Нагорного Карабаха и разгоревшегося там конфликта, а на долю Рубена приходятся “жалкие” шесть томов. Хотя уже сейчас понятно, что внятной доказательной базы у Азербайджана нет. Вероятно, именно поэтому процесс в Баку пытаются провести в закрытом формате: несмотря на заверения в открытости, на слушании не присутствуют независимые журналисты и правозащитники».
“Ruben Vardanyan acted as a peacekeeper in the conflict in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (another name for Artsakh). During the hostilities there in 2020, he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the military conflict. He also renounced his Russian citizenship in order to go to the field and head the government in Nagorno-Karabakh. Why did he do all of this? In his view, this was the only way to draw the world’s attention to the problem (there was nothing about it on the international agenda). He solved the issues of providing the residents of blockaded Artsakh with food, medical care and electricity.
And now there is the trial going on. I will share my thoughts.
The case of a man who did not participate in the hostilities in Karabakh is being heard in the Baku military court. This is strange. At the second court session Ruben was appointed a state lawyer. According to his family, they are trying to force him to change his own lawyer for a state lawyer.
Taking into account the events of the interstate conflict, the forcible imposition of a public defender from one of the parties on the accused looks ambiguous.
In itself, the state institution of the public advocacy is a strong humanistic initiative. But it is bad when such a mechanism is used to legalize the judicial process. A person must have a choice: a state lawyer or a non-state lawyer. “A person must have a choice: a state lawyer or a non-state lawyer. And this is especially important, as I think, when it comes to courts, which, both in terms of their content and the attention of the world community attached to it, have an international status”.
”I literally owe my life to Ruben.
When I was 16, I entered the international college in Dilijan founded by Vardanyan: from a small yard school in a dormitory neighborhood, I went to Hogwarts. Imagine: in a school on the outskirts of Dilijan (population 17,000), Ivy League professors teach, businessmen from the Forbes list give lectures, and the school’s official spokesman is George Clooney. I mean literally: here is George Clooney (who starred in the movies “From Dusk Till Dawn”, “Oh, Where Are You, Brother?” and “Ocean’s Eleven”) sitting in the front row at our graduation in the auditorium.
And I am not from a rich family, but one of the hundreds of students whom Vardanyan’s team gave a chance: teenagers from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and about 70 other countries studied with me. Many of them learned for the first time only in Armenia, for example, what it is to live and not to starve. I am not even talking about the opportunity to get an education.
Vardanyan was once partly rightly considered a Russian oligarch, but at the decisive moment he took a different path: the path of investing not in golden ruffles, but in people, and I am living proof of that.
During his imprisonment, Vardanyan had already spent three weeks in a disciplinary cell, where he was deprived of food, water and the opportunity to change clothes. In his open letter, he said that the protocols of his interrogations were falsified, and his lawyers and interpreters signed them retroactively under extreme pressure.
Probably, one can have a different attitude towards Ruben Vardanyan. But damn it, he certainly does not deserve this”.
“Ruben Vardanyan’s address yesterday shocked me. And not because I sympathize with him, with his visionary activities, as personal attitude, personal acquaintance can have an impact.
No.
I was triggered by my profession – I could not imagine that a neighboring state, which aspires to much in the world, could allow SUCH gross violations of the basic rights of the accused.
More precisely, their shameless disregard. You do not need to be a lawyer to realize that Ruben Vardanyan’s rights have been significantly violated:
“I and my lawyer were only allowed to look through 422 volumes of the criminal case in Azerbaijani, a language I do not speak, with a rather short period from December 9, 2024 to January 8, 2025”.
I will not comment on the falsification of interrogation protocols. It is clear to a non-lawyer that this is a criminal offense”.
“The trial against Russian-Armenian philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, a talented businessman who risked everything and headed the government of Nagorno-Karabakh, sincerely rooting for all its inhabitants, has started in Azerbaijan.
It is strange that the case of the former Artsakh premier is being heard by a military court and not a civilian one, although Vardanyan did not take part in military actions, but focused his efforts on the humanitarian situation in the blockaded region, for which he was later nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Before the trial began, Vardanyan stated through his family that he had not given any testimony at all during this year and a half of the investigation, had not signed any interrogation reports, and had not even been allowed to get acquainted with the case file. It seems that the case, as they say, does not hold water. Ruben Vardanyan himself insists on his complete innocence.
Aliyev said that Moscow was interested in Vardanyan’s fate, Vladimir Putin urged Aliyev to show mercy to the prisoners. But there are no visible results of any work so far. It is a shame, because Vardanyan could seriously strengthen Russia’s position in the South Caucasus”.
“Billionaire Ruben Vardanyan has been sitting in Azerbaijani solitary confinement for more than 470 days. I have worked with this man, seen him in action and have the deepest respect for him. Everything that is happening to him now is monstrously unfair”.
“Ruben Karlenovich Vardanyan offered to help the Elizaveta Glinka Foundation during one of the most difficult periods, when we were no longer sure that we would be able to do all our work.
Without his help, our Foundation would have been very different.
And for all of us it is simply unbearable to think that we cannot help him now.
“Ruben Vardanyan became interesting and sympathetic to me when he turned from an ordinary rich man, of which there are tons in Russia, into a man who sacrificed everything for the sake of his motherland Armenia, and besides, he launched a wonderful pedagogical experiment – the Dilijan school.
The fact that Vardanyan has been held in an Azerbaijani prison for more than a year is outrageous by itself. And now it turns out that his trial will be completely Kafkaesque”.
“You [Azerbaijan] are doing everything to convince me that this is a politically engaged process. You do not let a person justify himself. You do not let him prepare for the process. The process will be public, but you do not do it. So what are you hiding? Why are you doing this? If everything is fine, everything is proven, you have great researchers and a great prosecutor, why is the trial being conducted in a language that the defendant does not understand?
And I am not even talking about the presumption of innocence. Or the fact that I know Ruben and he is not a terrorist. But let’s say you think so, prove it to me! But you do everything to say: “We will not let him justify himself”.
“We must do everything necessary to help people escape from the terrible circumstances called “war”. No matter how the war is explained, people are suffering. And this is its most terrible consequence. Among those held [in Baku], I can, for instance, say about Rubik Vardanyan. It is not my business to understand the accusations that are brought against him by that side, but I can say how much this man has done, is doing and will do for his homeland. When I was in Dilijan I saw the college [UWC Dilijan] that Ruben built with his own money. This college is equipped with all the latest world scientific achievements, and children from all over the world study there. This alone can at least indicate that we are with an extremely noble and humane person.”
“When several years ago I was in Armenia for the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, I visited UWC Dilijan [International College]. I knew that it was founded by my friend Ruben Vardanyan, who, unfortunately, at the present moment is a political prisoner, because he was a leader and he tried to help his people, who found themselves in a conflict situation.
I hope that Azerbaijan will demonstrate that it has at least some awareness of the need to establish peace in the region and will release Ruben Vardanyan and other Armenian political prisoners and captives.”
“The Baku court has once again extended the term of illegal detention of Ruben Vardanyan.
Vardanyan, as well as other military and political leaders of Artsakh, have been illegally detained by the Azerbaijani authorities over than a year.
The artificial delay of the proceedings is another obvious fact that the criminal cases against Ruben Vardanyan and the other detainees are pure fabrication.”
“Vardanyan helped to work Russian charitable foundations and NGOs to work, financially supported dozens of humanitarian initiatives, invested in the development of Moscow State University and other higher education institutions. And all this whole time he did not forget about his Armenian origins and was concerned about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In 2022, concern for the fate of his compatriots took over: Vardanyan left for the Nagorno-Karabakh, where devastation prevailed and military operations almost never ceased. And in order to avoid being perceived in the region as a Kremlin stooge, he had to renounce his Russian citizenship.
Apart from the immediate assistance to local residents – from organizing a free canteen to solving housing problems – the philanthropist held the post of State Minister of the unrecognized Republic for about three months. As we can see, this appointment later turned into a disaster for him. Since his arrest, Vardanyan has spent more than a year behind bars, and the trial has still not held.”
“The former Presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arkady Ghukasyan, former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, former Chairman of the National Assembly David Ishkhanyan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs David Babayan, former Minister of Defence Levon Mnatsakanyan, who are being held in Baku, are the legitimate representatives of the people striving for self-determination in conformity with international law. Have the world powers been negotiating with terrorists and criminals all these years, as Azerbaijan is saying now? Absolutely not.
These leaders are comparable with such figures as Ibrahim Rugova from Kosovo or José Ramos-Horta from East Timor. Their detention is a political stunt to force to pass over in silence the Armenian issue, which is a serious violation of international law and a challenge to the legitimacy of the global diplomatic process.
The world community, especially such state actors as the United States, must demand that Azerbaijan release the Armenian prisoners of war and political leaders held illegally.”
“Ruben Vardanyan is my friend, and I declare that he is a decent man who has always tried to look at the public from a more inclusive perspective than his personal gain. That is why he is included in the public platform, I mean our contemporary civic issues, to make life better for the people of his community. He is a person to whom we should express gratitude, not shut him down somewhere in Baku. This is an unjust arrest against an individual and the government of Azerbaijan would do well to release him immediately. I will continue to speak out and defend this demand. This is unfair, it should not be, and it is not the way human beings should communicate with each other. It is a concentration of mistreatment of each other, and as a result of this mistreatment of each other, it snowballs and becomes a terrible problem, up to and including mass atrocities and even genocide. We do not take enough time to be kind to one another, to be tolerant and more just. This is exactly the poisonous fruit of the tree of injustice that we have nurtured for generations.
As a South African freedom fighter seems to have said years ago, “Let my people go!” Right? So, release Ruben! Let him go, let him go home, let him go to his family! He does not hurt anyone! He is trying to contribute to the prosperity of mankind, and to the protection of those people who have been threatened. He is such a person that we should be grateful to, not imprison him”.
“When we think of Nelson Mandela, we remember him as a man who went through a struggle and came out the other side. When I think of one of our founders (of the international educational movement United World Colleges, UWC), Ruben Vardanyan, I take a look at the life of Nelson Mandela and say that there are people who go through the fire of life. By God’s will, they come out of that fire and have an even greater impact for change. I have witnessed that during my life”.
“As someone who follows the Azerbaijani press on a daily basis, I can say that no one has been subjected to such organized and dangerous pressure as Vardanyan. The Azerbaijani side did not calm down even after illegally arresting Vardanyan in Baku. They link him with various forces, up to the Azerbaijani opposition. All this, of course, is not new, I have repeatedly written and spoken about it, noting also that all this hype around Vardanyan is related to his authority, capabilities and the fact that he failed to destroy all their agreements.
But there is a new component to this story. At the moment when Baku is discussing the possibility of a trial of illegally detained Armenians, the Armenian leadership led by Nikol Pashinyan begins to purposefully attack Vardanyan. Pashinyan raises unfounded, empty and dangerous for the state questions against him, which is typical of his style. He does this in a situation when Vardanyan is in prison in Baku and has no opportunity to respond or react”.
