Judicial investigation into the criminal case of Ruben Vardanyan begins

Court hearings on the criminal case against Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian citizen charged with torture, mercenary activity, violation of the laws and customs of warfare, terrorism, financing terrorism and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, were continued on February 15.

The open hearings were held at the Baku Military Court and presided over by Judge Zeynal Agayev and a panel of judges consisting of Anar Rzayev and Jamal Ramazanov (reserve judge Gunel Samadova). The accused was provided with an interpreter in the language of his choice, i.e. Russian, as well as lawyers for his defense.

At the beginning of the hearing, Ruben Vardanyan and his defense attorney expressed their objection to the composition of the court.

While commenting on the motion, prosecutors Vusal Aliyev and Fuad Musayev, defending state prosecution, stated that a similar motion had been put forward and considered in the previous court hearing and resulted in the adoption of a relevant decision. They also reiterated the requirements in the criminal procedural legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the specification of particular circumstances for objections to the judge and the necessity of substantiating such objections.

The prosecutors stated that no specific grounds had been established regarding the issues mentioned in the motion and requested that the motion not be upheld.

Following this, the court went into deliberations. According to the decision announced after the deliberation, the objection was left unexamined.

The Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General, Vusal Aliyev, voiced the prosecution's proposals regarding the sequence of examination of evidence during the judicial investigation.

The accused R. Vardanyan and his defense attorney Avraam Berman did not put forward any proposals on the sequence of examination of evidence.

After that, R. Vardanyan said that he was not feeling well due to a hunger strike he was on. The judge announced a break for the accused to undergo medical examination.

After the break, Judge Zeynal Agayev presiding over the court hearings explained to the parties to the criminal proceedings the procedure for examining evidence during the judicial investigation.

Then, the accused was offered the opportunity to give a free statement, but he refused.

After that, the prosecutors in charge of the state prosecution began to ask the accused questions about the criminal acts he was accused of.

The Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General, Vusal Aliyev, asked the accused R. Vardanyan about his attitude towards the occupation of the sovereign territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a result of Armenia's military aggression, the forcible deportation of Azerbaijanis, the torture and killing of prisoners and hostages, the infliction of material damage on the Republic of Azerbaijan, and other facts.

The Head of the Department for the defense of Public Prosecution of the Prosecutor General's Office, Nasir Bayramov, prosecutors Fuad Musayev and Vusal Abdullayev asked the accused about the events that sparked off the occupation of the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, his relations with citizens of the Republic of Armenia Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, Davit Babayan, Lyova Mnatsakanyan and Davit Manukyan, the “Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Fund” operating under the guise of humanitarian goals, the reasons for his renouncing the citizenship of the Russian Federation and accepting the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia.

Questions were also asked about his relations with Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan, Samvel Babayan, Vitali Balasanyan, Zori Balayan and others.

The Assistant to the Prosecutor General for Special Assignments, Tugay Rahimli, asked the accused about the procedure for his appointment as so-called state minister of the self-styled regime, about who provided the guarantees for his appointment to the position, about the identity of the people he consulted in this regard, about the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan he traveled to that were previously under occupation, about the activity directions of the “We and Our Mountains Territorial Development Agency” and the “Artsakh Security and Development Front Movement”.

Then, R. Vardanyan's interview attached to the criminal case file was examined in the presence of an interpreter.

Public prosecutors asked the accused questions about a number of aspects of the interview, including his illegal entry into Karabakh, the sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, through the territory of Armenia, the currency in circulation on the territory of the so-called regime, the reason for using the passport of the Republic of Armenia on the territory of the so-called regime, the goals and grounds for the deployment of the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia there, the reasons and goals of R. Vardanyan's statements about the impossibility of a coexistence between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples, as well as his incitement of hatred and enmity between the two peoples, forms of financing of the so-called regime and the participation of the Armenian state in this process, and reasons for the short term of his tenure as “state minister”.

The accused Ruben Vardanyan did not answer any of the questions put to him.

The next court hearing is scheduled for March 4.

Ruben Vardanyan is charged with crimes under Articles 100.1, 100.2 (planning, preparing, initiating and waging a war of aggression), 107 (deportation and forced displacement of the population), 109 (persecution), 110 (forcible disappearance of persons), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law), 113 (torture), 114.1 (mercenary activity), 115.2 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare), 116.0.1, 116.0.2, 116.0.10, 116.0.11, 116.0.16, 116.0.18 (violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflict), 120.2.1, 120.2.3, 120.2.4, 120.2.7, 120.2.11, 120.2.12 (intentional murder), 29,120.2.1, 29,120.2.3, 29,120.2.4, 29,120.2.7, 29,120.2.11, 29,120.2.12 (attempted intentional murder), 192.3.1 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214.2.1, 214.2.3, 214.2.4 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing of terrorism), 218.1, 218.2 (creation of a criminal group), 228.3 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation and possession of firearms, their components, ammunition, explosives and devices), 270-1.2, 270-1.4 (acts threatening aviation safety), 278.1 (forcible seizure or retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state), 279.1, 279.2, 279.3 (creation of armed formations or groups not provided for by law) and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan).