The Baku Military Court of the Azerbaijani capital on Tuesday announced its verdict on former Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) state minister Ruben Vardanyan, who is charged in Azerbaijan of "crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, terrorism, financing of terrorism and other serious crimes."

Accordingly, Vardanyan was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The defense and international human rights organizations state that the aforesaid charges are politically motivated and trumped up, and the process itself is considered a violation of the norms of international law and the principles of a fair trial.