Ruben Vardanyan's lawyers file lawsuits in Azerbaijan for torture

Lawyers for social entrepreneur and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, a former top official of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) 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 reported.

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

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