Ten months in captivity: chronicle of Ruben Vardanyan’s detention
Social entrepreneur Ruben Vardanyan has already been in Baku pre-trial detention facility for ten months. Azerbaijan illegally detained the philanthropist on September 27, 2023 when he was trying to leave Artsakh for Armenia.
In May, a court in Azerbaijan extended the philanthropist’s arrest for another five months, which his team found unreasonable. In early June, in connection with preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Bonn, members of the Free Armenian Prisoners team demanded that Baku release Vardanyan and other illegally imprisoned Armenians. They called on the participants of the event and the international community to pay attention to the fact that the next session of the conference will be held in Azerbaijan 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 director of the movie explained that he had set himself the task of highlighting 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. She believes that this would create a counterbalance to the pressure from official Baku and allow to record inevitable violations.
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”. According to the general director of the agency, Grigory Martirosyan, the joint work promises to be fruitful, as the common mission of both structures is to help the residents of the region.
On July 17, American lawyer Garnik Kerkonyan spoke about the importance of the appeal that lawyers of Vardanyan filed with the UN Special Rapporteur on torture. It is possible that thanks to this document Baku will treat the prisoners more humanely. Another possible outcome, the lawyer says, is an increase in international support that can speed up the return of the prisoners to their homeland. The expert also said that the release of Vardanyan and other prisoners must be a preliminary condition for any peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On July 23, former International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said that the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in November is an unprecedented opportunity to free 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 Baku, said Ocampo.
While Vardanyan remains in pre-trial detention facility, his charitable initiatives are still helping regular people. Thus, the “Accessible Dilijan” inclusive tourism project was launched in Armenia at the beginning of the year. The app with a virtual guide and sign language interpreter will make it easier for deaf and hard-of-hearing tourists to explore the region’s attractions. 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.