Ruben Vardanyan’s lawyers file legal actions in Baku on cases of torture, lack of speedy trial

Lawyers for Ruben Vardanyan, a former top official in the ethnic Armenian administration of Nagorno-Karabakh who is now detained in Azerbaijan, on Thursday filed legal actions in Baku alleging he had been tortured and denied the right to a speedy trial, Reuters reports.

According to the source, Azerbaijani officials declined to comment on the lawsuits.

Vardanyan was arrested and jailed along with several other top Karabakh officials following a lightning offensive by Baku’s forces in September 2023 to capture Nagorno-Karabakh.

In a statement, Vardanyan’s lawyers said one of the cases related to treatment that constituted torture during a hunger strike he mounted in April 2024.

They said that in response Vardanyan was placed in a punishment cell, forced to stand, forbidden to bathe, and deprived of water for two days.

In another action, Vardanyan’s lawyers said that his right to a speedy trial had been violated by his detention since last year. A separate lawsuit accuses a Russian-language Azerbaijani newspaper, the Baku Worker, of defaming Vardanyan.

Baku is gearing up to host the COP29 climate change conference in November. In the run-up to the event, it is expected to face increased scrutiny of its human rights record, including the jailing of journalists and activists which has drawn concern from the United States and the European Union.

In the statement, Vardanyan’s lawyers urged Azerbaijan to release all Karabakh Armenian prisoners held in the country before the summit begins.