Azerbaijani court issues decision on Armenian separatist's appeal

An appeal has been reviewed in Azerbaijan regarding the decision to extend the detention of Armenian separatist, former so-called "state minister" of the separatist regime in Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan.

Vardanyan attended the proceedings alongside his lawyer, requesting the annulment of the arrest order, Caliber.Az reports via local media. 

The court, presided over by judge Gadim Babayev, examined the files of the criminal case against Vardanyan, considered the circumstances, and announced its final decision. As a result, the appeal was rejected as unfounded. Earlier, a ruling has been made in the ongoing criminal case against Vardanyan by the Sabail District Court in Baku.  The court has extended Vardanyan's detention period.

Serious suspicions have been established regarding Vardanyan's involvement in criminal activities, which are outlined in the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan under articles 214-1 (financing terrorism), 279.3 (participation in the formation and activities of armed groups not authorized by law), and 318.1 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan). 

In recent months, several international organisations and foreign media outlets have published extensive investigative reports exposing money laundering mechanisms across various countries and other activities associated with Vardanyan, who is known as the only billionaire with Armenian citizenship. Vardanyan renounced his Russian citizenship in favour of Armenian citizenship and was appointed so-called "Minister of State" in the self-proclaimed "Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh". Vardanyan was detained in Karabakh in 2023 and brought to Baku. 

By Naila Huseynova