The illegal verdict against Ruben Vardanyan, a well-known Armenian businessman and philanthropist, former state minister of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), has been called in Azerbaijan the "logical conclusion" of the conflict.

“The decision of the [Azerbaijani capital] Baku court regarding oligarch Ruben Vardanyan represents not only the delivery of justice, but also the symbolic and logical conclusion of the past nearly 30-year conflict that brought immense suffering to the Azerbaijani people, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, Hikmat Hajiyev said in a social media post,” APA reports.

Ruben Vardanyan was illegally sentenced to 20 years in prison. Other former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijani captivity were sentenced to life imprisonment or 20 years in prison.

“The past nearly 30-year conflict that brought immense suffering to the Azerbaijani people,” was actually unleashed by Azerbaijan itself in response to the peaceful decision of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to seek self-determination.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan, with the assistance of Turkey and the involvement of Syrian militants, occupied part of Nagorno-Karabakh.

And in September 2023, Azerbaijan completely occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing its 150,000-strong Armenian population to flee their homelands under threat of extermination.