YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Ruben Vardanyan, a prominent Armenian businessman and former Nagorno-Karabakh premier, has issued another defiant statement from an Azerbaijani prison as he faced a life sentence at the end of his trial in Baku.
According to Vardanyan’s family in Armenia, he read out the statement to his elder son David in a phone call on Wednesday, December 17.
“The proceedings taking place in Baku do not meet the basic standards of a fair trial and therefore cannot be regarded as a court in the true sense of the word,” he said.
“I regret nothing. All my actions were taken consciously and voluntarily, fully understanding the possible consequences. I am ready to answer for my actions before God. The only thing I regret is that I was not able to do more.”
“I reaffirm: Artsakh was, is, and will be — regardless of attempts to rewrite history or impose an alternative interpretation of events,” added the statement circulated by the family on Thursday, December 18.
It came as Azerbaijani prosecutors demanded that Vardanyan be sentenced to life in prison. They earlier also demanded life sentences for most of the seven other former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh standing a separate trial in Baku. Like Vardanyan, the latter were 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. All of the defendants deny a long list of accusations leveled against them.
