Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) former state minister Ruben Vardanyan’s court case, which is separate from the cases of the other Armenian figures of Artsakh, continued Monday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The latter’s media reported the first information about the court hearing that began in the morning only a short while ago. Although the hearing is considered open, according to various sources, only reporters from Azerbaijani state media outlets are present at the hearing, who then pass on the respective footage to others.

Information received from Vardanyan's case is quite scarce at the moment. It is reported that a certain Ahmedov, a "victim" in the case, testified about the events in Khojaly in 1988. Armenia News-NEWS.am asked lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human Rights, if she sees any logical connection here.

"I have already noted that these trumped-up trials are also notable for numerous absurdities, fabricated stories, and made-up testimonies. This episode once again proves that the charges brought have political motives. Leaving aside the Azerbaijani narratives about the events of Khojaly, which are refuted by the testimonies of former Azerbaijani President [Ayaz] Mutalibov himself, it is obvious that during the 1.5-year long investigation, the [Azerbaijani] prosecutors did not even ‘bother’ to at least ‘correspond’ the charges with the life stories of the political prisoners. For example, it becomes clear from Ruben Vardanyan's life story that he studied at Moscow State University in those years, which he graduated from in 1992," noted Siranush Sahakyan.