Ruben Vardanyan’s statements from the detention center and his hunger strike influenced the adoption of the resolution by the European Parliament

Advocate of Armenian interests in the ECHR, lawyer Siranush Sahakyan spoke on the topic of political prisoners in Baku, including famous philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan.

“Both Vardanyan and all other political prisoners have the same conditions of detention, it’s just that he uses the phone calls he is entitled to with his family to convey his messages,” Sahakyan said.

According to her, Ruben Vardanyan uses even the slightest opportunity to speak out about procedural violations in Baku court. The social entrepreneur is trying to draw international attention to the illegal trial.

«”As far as I understand, it is already of secondary importance to him how he will be treated there. He thinks it is important to publicize the problem by all possible means and for this purpose he even turns to life-threatening means – hunger strike”, Sahakyan shared her opinion.

The human rights activist noted that Ruben Vardanyan’s statements from the detention center, as well as his photos during the hunger strike and his exhausted appearance influenced the adoption of the resolution of the European Parliament. Human rights activists from Amnesty International reacted to earlier statements.

“His statement made before the start of the trial, on January 16, was extremely important when he stated that the protocols and documents were falsified and he did not give any testimony. By doing so, he sent an alarming signal about the illegal nature of the whole process, not only in his own regard, but also with regard to other Armenians. Let us not forget that Amnesty International immediately reacted to this. Vardanyan’s statement was an opportunity for us, international human rights activists, to use it competently to raise the issues of the release of prisoners and lawlessness committed by Azerbaijan in general”, Sahakyan summarized.