YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — A US human rights lawyer representing Ruben Vardanyan has said that the Armenian government is doing little to try to secure the release of his client and seven other former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh standing trial in Azerbaijan.
In an interview with the Armenian Report published on Thursday, January 23, Jared Genser pointed to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s public statements on these and other Armenian prisoners whom he described as “hostages.”
“It doesn’t seem from what I’ve heard that bringing Ruben or others home is an especially high priority [for Pashinyan’s government,]” he said. “That’s obviously frustrating and disappointing… because Ruben and the others are simply Armenian citizens. It’s the job of a government to help their citizens abroad when they are in harm’s way. In this particular case… there is no one but the government of Armenia to actually stand up for them and assist them.”
“It should be the Armenian government that’s asking governments around the world to secure the release of the political prisoners and POWs, and it doesn’t seem to be an especially high priority for them,” added Genser.
An Azerbaijani military court began the separate trials of Vardanyan and 15 other Karabakh Armenians on January 17. The defendants facing a long list of accusations include three former Karabakh presidents — Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakian and Arkadi Ghukasyan. They were all captured by Azerbaijan during or shortly after its September 2023 military offensive that forced Karabakh’s entire population to flee to Armenia and restored Azerbaijani control over the region.
In contrast with an outpouring of support for the captives voiced by prominent public figures in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora, the Armenian government has pointedly declined to condemn the trials. Nor has it officially reacted to them otherwise through the prime minister’s office or the Foreign Ministry. Armenian government critics have denounced its silence.
