YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — Former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan has been transferred to the Umbaki Penitentiary in Baku after his prison sentence formally entered into force, according to Siranush Sahakyan, a human rights lawyer representing Armenian detainees before the European Court of Human Rights.
Speaking to Panorama.am on Tuesday, April 28, Sahakyan said Vardanyan’s legal status has shifted from pretrial detainee to convicted prisoner, prompting his relocation from a detention facility operated by Azerbaijan’s security services to a correctional institution under the Ministry of Justice. She noted that such institutional separation between pretrial detention centers and prisons for convicted individuals is standard practice in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
A military court in Baku sentenced Vardanyan to 20 years in prison on charges including crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, terrorism, and financing terrorism. Sahakyan said the verdict has now taken legal effect.
Vardanyan has publicly stated that he will not appeal the ruling in domestic courts, arguing that the proceedings lacked fundamental guarantees of due process. He characterized the trial as a “staged” exercise that failed to pursue justice in any substantive sense, Sahakyan said.
Under Azerbaijani legal procedures, once a verdict is issued and enforced, detainees are reclassified as convicted prisoners and typically transferred to penitentiary institutions. Sahakyan noted that Armenian detainees captured in 2020 and later convicted were also moved to the Umbaki prison, making Vardanyan’s transfer consistent with prior practice.
While there is no confirmed information about the status of other Armenian detainees, Sahakyan said it is reasonable to infer that they have been — or will soon be — transferred to the same facility.
