After overwhelming criticism from the public and private sector over their poor handling of COP29, Azeri officials escalate claims portraying Ruben Vardanyan as a leading opponent of the Aliyev regime
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — In an unprecedented escalation of its ongoing crackdown on dissent, Azerbaijan prosecutors have unveiled a new and enormous array of some 45 potential charges against Armenian humanitarian and political prisoner Ruben Vardanyan, according to his legal team. If convicted, Vardanyan faces the grim prospect of life imprisonment. The development comes just one month after the country controversially hosted the COP29 climate summit, where its abysmal human rights record drew sharp international criticism.
The new charges presented against Ruben Vardanyan fall under 20 different articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code. Illustrating the extent to which the regime is desperate to justify its ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh and illegal imprisonment of its former leaders, the fabricated evidence is presented in more than 25,000 pages across 100 volumes, all written in Azeri.
“These charges represent a flagrant violation of Azerbaijan’s obligations under international law” said Jared Genser.