Attorneys Work Remotely to Help Armenian Prisoners on Trial in Baku

Her involvement with the cases concerning Armenian victims of armed conflict of is not new; it dates back to 2016. “Since the 2016 Four-Day War, we have been representing approximately 400 victims of human rights violations, including various groups such as victims of torture, prisoners of war (POWs), and families of those subjected to arbitrary executions. Many of these families continue to suffer from severe emotional distress due to the loss of their loved ones.

“Additionally, we handle cases involving missing persons, forcibly disappeared captives, individuals under arbitrary detention, and victims of sham trials currently being conducted in Azerbaijan. Beyond these, we also advocate for displaced individuals, working to protect their rights to return, property, identity, and freedom from discrimination, among other fundamental rights” she said.

Making an Example of Vardanyan

Vardanyan’s case has been separated from the other leaders by the Azerbaijani prosecutors. Sahakyan explained, “There are several reasons for this. First, Ruben Vardanyan’s prominence and his ability to attract international attention by exposing human rights violations in Baku play a significant role. He has consistently spoken out against these abuses, both during his time in Artsakh — where he advocated for the rights, security, and self-determination of its people — and now in Baku, where he continues to do so despite the risks of retaliation. He remains one of the few voices actively highlighting issues such as torture and other violations, making his case particularly notable.”

“Another factor, I believe, is that he became a symbol of hope for the future in the eyes of the people of Artsakh, inspiring them to fight for their rights. Because of this, he is facing even harsher retaliation, as he is seen as an influential and inspiring leader for the people.” she said.

Kalfayan is another luminary in human rights. (He is also a regular contributor to the Mirror-Spectator.) He holds a PhD in international law and has been active at Paris Panthéon-Assas University and the Paris Human Rights Center. He serves as a legal expert at the Council of Europe int Human Rights and Legal Affairs and has also served as secretary general of the FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights Leagues).

Kalfayan added, “In fact, he [Vardanyan] has been the symbol of the resistance to Azerbaijani pressure and aggression. When he decided to settle in Karabakh, that was a very strong signal, not only for the Karabakh people, but the entire Armenian nation. The second point is that such a dictator as Aliyev, they are always afraid of wealthy and influential people. Vardanyan is one of the persons who initiated the Aurora Prize and many other projects that have been quite well known and well regarded. He is really a symbol of power in the sense that he is known internationally and he has some wealth. So he is the key target to humiliate the talent and pride of Armenians and their resilience at the occasion of this trial.”

He added, “Most of the charges against him are illogical because Vardanyan was not involved in the wars before, not even the 2020 war. They accused him of being part of the self-determination movement [the Karabakh war for independence] in 1989. He was still a student at that time. On the contrary, during the 2020 war, he made some declarations which aimed at reconciliation between the two peoples and stopping the war. However, Vardanyan does not want him to be treated differently and separately from the other prisoners.”

Suits in International Venues

The government of Armenia currently has filed four interstate cases against the government of Azerbaijan in the European Court of Human Rights. The last covers the blockade of the Lachin corridor, linking Artsakh and Armenia, adding starvation, deaths, and other resulting hardships, as well as forced deportation, arrest and detention of leaders.

The two attorneys explained that in order to apply to the ECHR for recourse, one must wait for the trial is over and a verdict has been rendered. The ECHR is not an appeals court but will hear only cases of violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. Those are arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment, right to a fair trial, right to legal defense of one’s choice, etc.

“Ruben Vardanyan has a private legal team that has filed a complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture” Sahakyan said. Among this team is international human rights lawyer Jared Genser as well as an Azerbaijani lawyer. In contrast, the group of 15 detainees is represented only by Azerbaijani state-appointed lawyers.

“Azerbaijani legislation requires lawyers to hold a license issued by Azerbaijani authorities in order to practice law. As a result, international lawyers or those from foreign jurisdictions are prohibited from defending accused individuals in criminal cases” Sahakyan added. She explained that it is very hard for the attorneys outside Baku to communicate with Vardanyan. Neither the two nor Genser have been allowed to visit nor to speak directly with local Azerbaijani counsel.

“I don’t have any contact with the state appointed lawyers,” she added. “In Vardanyan’s case, his private Azerbaijani lawyer provides some information to the international legal team. The family receives updates during monthly phone calls arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as through monthly letters or video messages,” she explained. “We have no opportunity to communicate directly with our clients — prisoners held in Baku. Azerbaijani authorities impose obstacles that prevent effective legal representation,” Sahakyan said.

Both added that they were concerned that Armenia would drop its cases against Azerbaijan in international courts (ICJ and ECHR).

“My personal opinion is this withdrawal will happen shortly,” Sahakyan said. Added Kalfayan, “The whole world knows the trials cannot be fair against ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan and those prisoners are political hostages of a peace treaty negotiation between two countries. The release of these prisoners cannot be obtained without intergovernmental institutions implication and international courts’ decisions. If Armenia withdraws from the interstate applications at the ICJ and ECHR, the fate of these prisoners will be very frightening.”

Ongoing Torture

The appearance of the Armenian POWs and of the political Leaders as well as the judicial history of Azerbaijan indicate the difficult straits the prisoners are in.

“We can confirm the use of torture and ill-treatment. We are aware of various methods, including beatings, mock executions, humiliation, sleep deprivation, and physical hardship, among others. In our view, Azerbaijan follows an administrative practice of systematically torturing and mistreating Armenians, with many of these actions being punitive in nature and directly linked to ethnic discrimination. These abuses constitute ethnically motivated crimes against Armenians,” Sahakyan said.

Last week, unusually, Azerbaijani news outlets quoted Arayik Harutyunyan and David Babayan saying they were being treated well. “It is totally unusual for a prisoner to say that. You can understand what the meaning of this is,” Kalfayan said.

In contrast, Vardanyan “has publicly and internationally made known that he was ill-treated. When you look at their physical appearance and take into consideration that the life in the prisons of post-Soviet republics is no honeymoon.”

Sahakyan noted, “We have received testimonies from repatriated prisoners confirming that they were forced to sign forged documents written in Azerbaijani, without understanding their content. This demonstrates a clear pattern of coercing prisoners into providing false information and signing documents with content they neither dictated nor comprehended.”

Kalfayan then addressed the involvement of the Armenian government with the trials. “We don’t know whether in the negotiations between the two states the case of the prisoners is on the table or not. At least there is no official information about this. Neither the Azerbaijani government nor the Armenian government are talking about it,” Kalfayan said. “Some Armenian officials sometimes have made very strange statements about Artsakh people and the leadership of Artsakh.”

He referred to the statement by Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan who in response to a question about the possibility of returning to his homeland by an Armenian from Artsakh who had fled, replied that the person could have stayed and fought instead of running away.

He added, “This behavior is not acceptable when you know people are there in prison and are ill-treated, under the threat of life imprisonment, you cannot say such things. This is very worrying that such things are said in Armenia. I also remind you that a few months ago the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made an enigmatic declaration about Vardanyan.”

Kalfayan said when the premier was asked why he does not take care of the Vardanyan case, he replied, “‘Who is he? Is he a citizen of Armenia? Why did he abandon his Russian citizenship?’”

In addition, both suggested that those prisoners should be treated as political prisoners, rather than relegated to the role of terrorist or criminal.

“Those prisoners, especially eight leaders, are there because of the dispute between the two states, because of the dispute over Nagorno Karabakh. They are political prisoners in all aspects. Since all of them are Armenian nationals, their case should be handled by the Armenian government. This is objectively we have not seen specific actions taken in favor of these prisoners while international legal instruments and diplomatic forums exist,” Kalfayan said. “We are trying to orient them to those instruments.”

End of Trial

The coverage of the trials — especially that of Vardanyan — seems to indicate that truly there is no expectation of a just trial. After the interview with Kalfayan and Sahakyan, Vardanyan’s family announced that he has embarked on a hunger strike. This week, his lawyer indicated a deterioration of Ruben Vardanyan’s health.

Sahakyan said, “We are closely monitoring the scheduling of the hearings and have observed that the trial process is being expedited. A verdict is expected within a few months,” she said. “The proceedings may only last a few more months. The verdict is highly predictable — conviction with a severe sentence, most likely life imprisonment or a long-term sentence exceeding 20 years,” she said. “Several dozen Artsakh natives have already been convicted in Azerbaijan, including prisoners of war who should have been granted immunity from criminal liability for actions inherent to their combatant status.”

She added, “These combatants were convicted for charges such as illegal possession of weapons and unlawful border crossing, which clearly demonstrates the politicization of these trials,” Sahakyan said. “There has not been a single case where the Azerbaijani judiciary has administered proper justice or acquitted an Armenian defendant. Every Armenian who has appeared before Azerbaijan’s justice system has been convicted. We are certain that all verdicts are predetermined, and conviction is the inevitable outcome.”

And just how were the Armenians currently detained found?

“What we know publicly is Azerbaijan had a list of 300 people that were wanted” in Artsakh, Kalfayan said. “The dark side of this is in fact we don’t have explanations why they arrested these eight leaders. We can make some assumptions,” he explained.

For example, they were all leaders, even Vardanyan, though he had a very short tenure there, “They are probably symbols,” he said. “David Babayan, the former minister of foreign affairs surrendered by himself. It was quite strange, but less officially, we know that at the time of leaving, the Azerbaijani forces had pressured the families. The leaders had to surrender, otherwise, Azerbaijani forces may have caught the whole family.”

He added, “I find the situation quite terrible. For me, the peace treaty negotiations and the release of Armenian prisoners should have been disconnected.” The release of the Armenian prisoners must be a preliminary step by Azerbaijan, a guarantee of good intentions on the part of the authorities of that State for reconciliation and sustainable peace, he suggested.

For now, the Armenians political prisoners are facing a perilous journey, living in a hostile society that would like nothing more than to serve them a mockery of justice.