Azerbaijan’s UK envoy confronts misinformation on Ruben Vardanyan case

In an interview with GB News aired on June 6, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Elin Suleymanov, responded to accusations made by supporters of Ruben Vardanyan, strongly rejecting the claims as unfounded and politically motivated.

Speaking to the British audience, Suleymanov stated that Ruben Vardanyan is facing serious criminal charges in Azerbaijan, including inciting separatism, financing terrorism, war crimes, and creating illegal armed groups, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

He emphasised that the charges also include threats of terrorism directed at Azerbaijani officials, and made it clear that the allegations made by Vardanyan’s supporters do not reflect the facts of the case.

Suleymanov stressed that attempts to portray Vardanyan’s detention as religiously motivated are completely baseless. He noted that the defendant has been granted access to the prison library and that due legal procedures are being observed. The ambassador underlined that both the International Court of Justice and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have rejected Armenia’s claims regarding Vardanyan’s case.

Vardanyan has been charged under numerous articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code. These include planning and conducting an aggressive war (Article 100), deportation or forced displacement of the population (Article 107), persecution (Article 109), unlawful deprivation of liberty in violation of international law (Article 112), use of torture (Article 113), mercenarism (Article 114), violation of the laws and customs of war (Article 115), and violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflicts (Article 116). He is also accused of terrorism (Article 214), financing terrorism (Article 214-1), organizing a criminal association (Article 218), illegal possession of weapons and explosives (Article 228), acts threatening aviation security (Article 270-1), violent seizure or retention of power (Article 278), creation of unauthorized armed formations (Article 279), and illegal crossing of Azerbaijan’s state border (Article 318).

Vardanyan also faces further charges under additional articles of the Criminal Code, and legal proceedings are ongoing.

By Tamilla Hasanova