Baku, March 4, AZERTAC

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 March 4.

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 hearings, Ruben Vardanyan's defense attorney Avraam Berman addressed the court with a motion seeking to provide his defendant with a notice explaining his rights and obligations, to create additional conditions for familiarization with case materials, including the minutes of the court hearings, and to provide Russian translation of the decision to bring criminal charges against him.

The Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General, Vusal Aliyev, who defends public prosecution in the case, noted in his commentary on the motions that a petition of the same content had been considered in previous court hearings and that a corresponding decision had been made. In particular, the defendant was given sufficient time to familiarize himself with the case materials both during the preliminary investigation and the trial proper. Also, the fact that the defendant was provided with notices explaining his rights and obligations and the decision to bring criminal chargesagainst him is confirmed by case materials. Taking all this into account, the prosecutor asked the court to leave the latest motions unconsidered.

The victims participating in the court hearings said they agreed with the position of the prosecution.

The court held an in-situ meeting and responded to the motions.

Zeynal Agayev noted that the accused was provided with a notice explaining his rights and obligations during the preliminary investigation, which is confirmed by case materials. In addition, the rights and obligations of the accused were explained to him in detail both during the preparatory hearing and during the trialitself, which is also confirmed by notices the court officially provided him with. The accused was also given sufficient time to familiarize himself with the case materials. However, if the accused wants to familiarize himself with documents in the case materials, including the minutes of the court hearings, he will have the opportunity to do so again.

Then the accused Ruben Vardanyan was again offered the opportunity to give a free statement. Ruben Vardanyan refused to give a statement.

After that, the prosecutors in charge of public prosecution asked the accused questions about the criminal acts he was charged with.

The Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General, Vusal Aliyev,asked Ruben Vardanyan questions about the purpose and objectives of the organizations he co-founded, which operated under the guise of humanitarian goals, the projects they implemented in the once occupied territories, his relations with members of those organizations, as well as the illegal visit of public activist Mirza Dinnayi to Karabakh, a sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan that was formerly occupied, and his meetings with him.

Then, questions were addressed to the accused about the negotiations he had conducted on the purchase of helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the acquisition of technical documents for the construction of a plant that would produce them, the instructions he gave to a certain Arman Dzhilavyan to obtain relevant documents for the construction of the plant, and the coordination of these activities with the Republic of Armenia.

The Assistant to the Prosecutor General for Special Assignments,Tugay Rahimli, asked the accused Ruben Vardanyan about his relationship with the founder of the terrorist organization “VoMa”,Vartanov Vladimir (Vova) Levanovich, the correspondence and voice messages sent between the two via WhatsApp, the fact that the organization arranged and financed the training for illegal armed groups in Karabakh under Armenia’s control, Vladimir Vartanov’s participation in military operations against our the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the First Karabakh War, the April battles of 2016, the Second Karabakh War, and the organization’s trainers.

The accused was also asked whether Armenia had given its consent to the training, who created the conditions for this, whether any minors were involved in the training, and whether Ruben Vardanyan organized and financed these trainings as an entrepreneur or as an official of the self-styled junta.

Then Ruben Vardanyan was asked questions about his relations with Vladimir Sergeyevich Poghosyan, the founder and chairman of the “Committee 27” movement, which operates under the guise of an authority on security issues, Ruben Vardanyan’s negotiations and correspondence with him through the “Signal” mobile application, other mobile applications and social networks, whether there was any cooperation between them, whether the plan of the Armenian state in creating a “national center of special operation forces” was to inflict heavy losses on the Azerbaijani state, which they describe as an “enemy”, what the meaning of “heavy losses” was, as well as other questions about members of the center and rules of its financing.

In addition, questions were asked about whether the “center” in question was subordinated to the self-styled entity or to the state of Armenia in the same way as its Ministry of Defense.

Then, Nasir Bayramov, the head of the Department for the Defense of Public Prosecution of the Prosecutor General's Office, asked the accused Ruben Vardanyan questions about the purchase of anti-aircraft missile systems for the self-styled entity by conducting negotiations with officials of “AKVA”, a company operating in the territory of the Russian Federation, the raising of funds for the construction of an enterprise that would produce these missiles, the goals behind the establishment of an enterprise for the production of military equipment in the capacity of a “state minister” who introduced himself to the Armenians living in Karabakh as an entrepreneur “providing humanitarian aid” and supposedly responsible only for socioeconomic issues, his intention to provide illegal armed formations and groups operating in the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan that were once under occupation with weapons and ammunition, the coordination of negotiations on the establishment of the military enterprise with Armenia, and whether Armenia provided any funds or other property for the implementation of this plan.

After that, public prosecutor Fuad Musayev asked questions about why Ruben Vardanyan's passport only contained notes on his entry into and exit from Armenia despite the fact that he entered the once-occupied Karabakh region of Azerbaijan from Armenian territory, then repeatedly traveled to other countries from Armenian territory, returned to Armenia and then entered the territory of the former self-styled entity, whether he provided any documents when crossing into the territories of the so-called entity which claimed to be an independent state, whether any notes to this effect were made in his passport or whether these travels were recorded in some other form.

The accused was also asked questions about the holding of military training for people of various age categories in the territory of Karabakh, the establishment of military camps for this purpose, the identity of trainers, training plans, the raising of funds from the “Ruben Vadanyan Foundation”, the “Dilijan Community Center”, the “Aznavour Foundation”, other organizations, foundations and individuals for the “We are our mountains” organization he founded to directly finance terrorism-related training, the various sports competitions and training sessions in special camps with the use of these funds, the negotiations with various individuals in this regard, including the messages he wrote to Aik Ovakimyan, such as “many have been accusing me from the very first day that I want blood and death”, “I do not have a shadow of a doubt about the 120 people we have trained in the last three months, but this is just a drop in the ocean” and other messages, as well as the fact that these trainings were held with the consent of Armenia.

Then public prosecutor Vusal Abdullayev asked the accused Ruben Vardanyan questions about the goals behind the raising of funds under the guise of the “We are the Mountains” organization and other aid campaigns, the acquisition of various firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other military equipment from Armenia and their illegal delivery to Karabakh, where these weapons were intended to be used, who organized the delivery of these weapons, what support he received from the Armenian state in carrying out these actions, who was in possession of the weapons and ammunition, and why there was so much military equipment in the office and summer house of the “state minister” allegedly responsible for socioeconomic issues.

At the same time, a list of leaders and members of illegal armed groups that operated in Karabakh was read out and questions were asked of the accused Ruben Vardanyan about his relations with these individuals, the payment of monthly wages to them, the manner in which these funds were provided, and the general procedure for the disbursement of wages.

Ruben Vardanyan was then asked about his relationship with a certain Artur Alaverdiyan, whom he contacted via telegram to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the goals behind the acquisition of UAVs, the financial resources he intended to use to purchase them, and the raising of funds from other individuals or organizations to purchase the UAVs.

Finally, public prosecutor Tarana Mammadova asked the accused Ruben Vardanyan questions about his initiation of a “Nemesis-2” terrorist operation to commit acts of terror against representatives of the diplomatic corps of the Republic of Azerbaijan abroad, his orchestration for these acts of terror, why the operation was called “Nemesis-2”, the goals behind his intentions to launch this operation, who these terrorist actions were intended to target, the message he had wanted to send by committing acts of terroragainst Azerbaijani diplomats, who he had consulted about plans for the implementation of the terrorist operation, what specific measures he had taken to implement these acts of terror, whom he had given instructions for this purpose, and how much financial resources had been spent or were to be spent on this.

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

During the court hearings, materials from the criminal case investigated by the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan were presented in the courtroom, including evidence such as voice conversations and messages of Ruben Vardanyan via WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram, as well as documents he authored, along with photos and videos related to the questions posed to him.

The next court hearing is scheduled for March 11.