A court in Baku ordered Ruben Vardanyan to be remanded in custody for four months pending a trial, Azerbaijani news media reported on Thursday.
Vardanyan was apprehended by Azerbaijani border guards at the Lachin corridor on Wednesday, his wife, Veronica Zonabend said in a statement.
“My husband, Ruben Vardanyan, the philanthropist, businessman and former minister of state of Artsakh, has been arrested and is being held captive by the Azerbaijani authorities at the border as he attempted to leave this morning, along with thousands of Armenians escaping Azerbaijani occupation,” Zonabend said in a statement she issued to the press.
“Ruben stood with the Arsakh people during the 10-month blockade and suffered along with them in the struggle for survival. I ask for your prayers and support to ensure my husband’s safe release,” the statement added.
Azerbaijan’s state security service announced that Vardanyan was detained in the Lachin corridor and taken to Baku, without elaborating on the reasons for his capture.
“Vardanyan was handed over to relevant state bodies so that they make a decision regarding him,” the APA news agency quoted it as saying.
Official sources in Baku also circulated a photograph of a handcuffed Vardanyan escorted by Azerbaijani officers at an unspecified airfield.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was not aware of the arrest.
“I don’t have such information, that’s why I can’t comment,” Peskov told RIA Novosti.
The government of Armenia has filed an application to the European Court of Human Rights.
Hasmik Samvelyan, the spokesperson of the Office of the Representative of Armenia on International Legal Matters, told Armenpress that Armenia requested in the application information on the status, detention conditions and state of health of Vardanyan.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said that it will take all possible measures to ensure that Vardanyan’s rights are protected and that he returns safely.
The ministry said it anticipates support from Russia and other international partners.
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention on Thursday warned international leaders that Ruben Vardanyan’s detention by Azerbaijani authorities poses a very high risk of torture and extrajudicial execution or a show trial.
The detention, killing, and disappearance of elites is a common act of genocide, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention said in a statement on X.
It called on Russia, the US and other world leaders to demand Vardanyan’s safe passage out of Azerbaijan.
“The Lemkin Institute is deeply concerned about the breaking news of the arrest and detention of former Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] State Minister Ruben Vardanyan by Azerbaijan’s State Border Service,” the Lemkin Institute said in its statement.
“Vardanyan, an outspoken advocate for Artsakh’s right to self-determination, is particularly hated by Azerbaijan. His detention poses a very high risk of torture and extrajudicial execution or a show trial. He and other current and former members of the Artsakh government and self-defense army have been branded as ‘separatists’ and ‘terrorists,’ categories that states use to justify illegal detention and murder,” explained the institute.
“Concern for the life and safety of Vardanyan is especially warranted given the treatment that Armenian POWs have received in Azerbaijani captivity since 2020. They have been tortured, humiliated, murdered, disappeared, and subjected to show trials,” the statement added.
“This is well documented. Russia and the United States as well as all other world leaders must demand Vardanyan’s safe passage out of Azerbaijan and must ensure that other members of the Artsakh government, as well as members of the Artsakh Defense Army, are also allowed to leave. We remind the world that the detention, killing, and disappearance of elites is a common act of genocide,” the Lemkin Institute emphasized.
In addition to having served as Artsakh State Minister this year, Vardanyan is a co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.
