The appellate court of the Azerbaijani capital of Baku has denied the appeal which was submitted in relation to the decision by a court of first instance to extend the period of pretrial detention of Ruben Vardanyan, former Minister of State of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani media have informed about this.

Earlier, a court of first instance in Baku extended the term of Vardanyan's pretrial detention by four months, but his attorney appealed that decision.

The appeal was examined at the Baku Court of Appeal, but it was denied, and the aforesaid decision of the court of first instance was considered justified.

Ruben Vardanyan is among the Nagorno-Karabakh former top leaders who were captured by the Azerbaijanis after the latter’s complete occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19-20 of last year.