Vardanyan reported to the Azerbaijani ombudsman about violations of the rights of convicted Armenians.

Convicted citizens of Armenia in Azerbaijan are deprived of phone communication and visits with relatives, they are not provided with medical examinations, and their walking time has been reduced, stated the former state minister of Nagorno-Karabakh.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on February 17, the Baku military court sentenced former state minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison. The defendant, who led the Karabakh government for only a few months during the blockade of the Lachin corridor, was found guilty of war crimes. Vardanyan refused to file an appeal, explaining that he does not recognize the verdict as an act of justice. Vardanyan's decision to refuse to appeal does not mean agreement with the verdict and is not a waiver of defense, his relatives emphasized.

Ruben Vardanyan appealed to the human rights commissioner in Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, stating about the violations of the rights of Armenian citizens held in the Baku penitentiary complex, Meydan TV reported on its website on the evening of September 18.

In his appeal, Vardanyan noted that some of the Armenian citizens detained with him and held in this complex are denied weekly phone calls, and video calls are completely unavailable. As a result, he said, some prisoners have not seen their children for almost three years.

According to Vardanyan, convicted citizens of Armenia are deprived of the opportunity to undergo medical examinations, even at their own expense. He also reported that the time for walks is limited to 20-40 minutes once a week, instead of the legally prescribed one hour daily, and no written responses are received to requests and complaints.

He noted that his wife Veronika Zonabend is ready to come to Baku to meet with the ombudsman and the prisoners, as well as to deliver letters, parcels, and essential items, but requests in this regard remain unanswered. Vardanyan urged Sabina Aliyeva to meet with the prisoners and respond to his appeal.

"Please, comply with your own laws. I believe this concerns not only us but the entire Azerbaijani society," Vardanyan's words are quoted in the publication. The ombudsman's office has not yet commented on his statement, the publication writes.

Recall that in July, Veronika Zonabend appealed to international organizations and the authorities of Armenia, calling for assistance in visiting Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan. On August 1, she repeatedly appealed to international organizations and the authorities of Armenia with this call, as her previous appeal went unanswered.

In April, Ruben Vardanyan demanded the Armenian government to participate in the fate of Armenian captives and asked the Armenian ombudsman to come to Azerbaijan with a delegation of relatives of the prisoners. Ombudsman Anait Manasyan refused to visit, citing a lack of authority to protect Armenians outside the country.

Earlier, in March, Vardanyan attempted to deliver a public appeal to the Azerbaijani ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva requesting a meeting. According to him, a month after the trials ended, neither he nor other convicted leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh received copies of the verdicts.

On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan conducted large-scale military operations and took control of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, after which a mass exodus of the Armenian population began. By October 7, 2023, 100,632 displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh had arrived in Armenia, and by September 2024, only 14 Armenians remained in the region. "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report "The beginning and end of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".