A lawsuit for insulting the honor, dignity and business reputation of Ruben Vardanyan was filed in a Baku court

The international publication Reuters published a statement from Ruben Vardanyan’s lawyers: they filed claims in Baku. One of them is related to the treatment of Ruben in the Baku pre-trial detention center – according to lawyers, in April 2024 he was subjected to torture.

The lawyers’ statement was commented on by the representative of the interests of Armenian prisoners of war at the ECHR, Siranush Sahakyan. She confirmed the fact of the claims being filed and provided some details.

“The information is correct. Lawyers for political prisoner Ruben Vardanyan, who has been held under arrest in Azerbaijan for more than a year, filed a lawsuit in a Baku court against the Russian-language Azerbaijani newspaper “Baku Worker” for publications that discredit the honor, dignity and business reputation of Ruben Vardanyan. This is the only media outlet whose printed version is available to prisoners in Baku prison. In many publications of this publication, fabricated charges are attributed to Vardanyan.

On the one hand, free journalists are under pressure in Azerbaijan, and on the other, state-controlled media are not responsible for disinformation and slander. Meanwhile, in July of this year, speaking about disinformation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that “media representatives bear a special responsibility, since their messages and the way they cover events in many cases affect people’s lives,” which, according to my information, the lawyers refer, expressing their agreement with this formulation.

In this situation, Ruben Vardanyan, in accordance with all the norms of Azerbaijani domestic and international law, has the right to go to court in order to protect his honor and dignity. Although we do not place much hope on domestic procedures, we can only turn to international authorities after they have been exhausted.”