The “trial” in the case of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) former state minister Ruben Vardanyan continued Thursday in the Baku Military Court, in Azerbaijani capital Baku. And we learned from the Azerbaijani media that Vardanyan has declined from his defense attorney. Armenian News-NEWS.am asked lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human Rights, for a comment on the matter.

Ms. Sahakyan, the “trial” in the case of Ruben Vardanyan continued yesterday, and we learned from the Azerbaijani media that he has refused the defense attorney, and the court seems to have granted this. Do you have any new information about this?

First, let me clarify that Ruben Vardanyan has refused the services of the public defender appointed [to him] by the [Azerbaijani] state, whom the prosecutor had introduced at the first session, arguing that, allegedly based on the complexity of the case, Vardanyan needed another defense attorney. Vardanyan had stated that this lawyer did not provide him with any legal assistance, never visited the isolation cell, and he did not trust him.

At that time, the prosecution had objected, claiming that the lawyer appointed by the state should remain. However, according to my information, Vardanyan’s motion to refuse the [services of the] public defender was granted at yesterday’s hearing. Vardanyan’s interests will be defended there by his private attorney, Avraam Berman, licensed in Azerbaijan. But he [i.e. Vardanyan] is deprived of the opportunity to meet with international [human rights] lawyer Jared Genser and receive his legal assistance, since the Azerbaijani prosecutor’s office had rejected Genser’s petition to visit Baku.

At yesterday’s hearing, the part of the “indictment” regarding Ruben Vardanyan himself was read out. Moreover, the charges are improbable and ridiculous one from another.

Yes, indeed, the charges submitted are beyond the bounds of reason, so it is impossible to comment on them or provide counterarguments to them.