Vardanyan case brought before ECHR

PanARMENIAN.Net - A complaint concerning the case of former Artsakh State Minister, businessman and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan was filed with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 19.

His interests before the ECHR will be represented by human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, head of the Center for International and Comparative Law and legal representative for Armenian detainees before the ECHR. The Ruben Vardanyan Foundation released Sahakyan’s statement.

According to the statement, the application details violations of eight articles of the European Convention on Human Rights and provides legal arguments supporting those claims.

The Baku Military Court delivered its verdict in Vardanyan’s case on February 17, 2026, sentencing him to 20 years in prison. The court did not read out the full judgment during the hearing.

According to the statement, the written judgment later obtained by Vardanyan’s family states that he was found “guilty” on 41 counts under 21 articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code.

The statement argues that the judgment does not substantiate Vardanyan’s individual criminal responsibility with facts or evidence. Instead, it says the court concluded that the “criminal community” — referring to the unrecognized administration of Artsakh — had operated in Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988, and that Vardanyan joined that “community” in December 2020, although he was living in Moscow at the time.

It further states that the court characterized Vardanyan’s acceptance of a civilian administrative post as a violent seizure of power, his commercial and charitable activities as illegal entrepreneurship and financing of terrorism, and his entry into Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin Corridor as the illegal crossing of Azerbaijan’s state border.

According to the statement, Vardanyan did not appeal the verdict because he considered the trial to have been staged and predetermined, while viewing all available domestic legal remedies as ineffective.

“It is impossible to protect rights within a system that, from the outset, denies the right to a fair trial. Therefore, Ruben Vardanyan decided to continue the pursuit of justice through international legal mechanisms,” the statement said.

The case against former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan was heard in separate proceedings. On February 17, it was announced that he had been sentenced to 20 years in prison.