Azerbaijan: Ruben Vardanyan’s 20-year prison term culminates “travesty” of a trial against ethnic Armenian leaders

Responding to the conviction and 20-year sentence of Ruben Vardanyan, the last of 16 ethnic Armenians put on trial by Azerbaijan in connection with their roles in Azerbaijan’s break-away region of Nagorno-Karabakh (Karabakh) prior to its takeover by Azerbaijani forces in 2023, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The conviction of the 16 defendants, culminating in this sentence against Ruben Vardanyan, is nothing short of a travesty. The fact that Ruben Vardanyan and the others, several civilians like himself, were tried before a military court in itself raises serious concerns and is incompatible with fair trial guarantees. While victims of the decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in both Armenia and Azerbaijan deserve truth, justice, reparations and assurances of non-repetition, these convictions constitute an affront to all victims of crimes under international law.”