Last week, Ruben Vardanyan issued a statement announcing his decision to dismiss his attorney in Baku, Avraam Berman. In a statement this week, he explained his decision had nothing to do with his efforts or abilities, but the Azerbaijani legal system’s blatant disregard for fairness.
His explanation appears in full below:
“During the court hearing on October 21, I announced my decision to dismiss my attorney, Avraam Berman. This was a forced decision. The blatant violations of international and Azerbaijani legal standards throughout the ongoing proceedings have turned the hearings into an outright farce. Under these circumstances, all procedural opportunities for the defense have been exhausted over the past months.
I was not allowed to review the case materials or the indictment. Access to the case materials continues to be denied: I still have not been given the opportunity to review the 422 volumes of my case file, and the court has failed to provide official translations of key procedural documents.
I was deprived of the opportunity to defend myself in court. I was unable to exchange documents with my attorney freely and without prior inspection in preparation for hearings, and I was denied access to audio and video evidence.
Over dozens of hearings, my counsel and I filed more than 60 motions and applications to the Baku Military Court to challenge egregious abuses of my due process rights. Yet none of the critical motions were approved. At the same time, more than 60% of these motions were simply ignored by the Court. Yet under Azerbaijani law, the Court is required to consider all such motions “without delay,” and act upon, either by granting them or rejecting them, “no later than 3 (three days) after receipt” by the Court.
