Azerbaijan extends Ruben Vardanyan's detention

A court in Baku on Thursday extended the detention of Artsakh’s former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan for another 4 months, the Azerbaijani media reported.

Vardanyan, a prominent Russian-Armenian businessman and philanthropist, was illegally arrested by Azerbaijani border guards as he attempted to leave Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) for Armenia through the Lachin corridor on September 27. He was placed in pre-trial detention for four months.

He has been charged with financing terrorism, illegally entering Karabakh and supplying its armed forces with military equipment.

Azerbaijani authorities have also illegally arrested and charged Artsakh’s three former presidents, Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arkady Ghukasyan, presidential advisor David Babayan, parliament speaker David Ishkhanyan, as well as a former Artsakh army commander and his deputy.