"Ruben Will Be Convicted, So Will the Others": Vardanian's Lawyer Jared Genser Was in Armenia

Ruben Vardanian's international lawyer, Jared Genser, was in Armenia a few days ago. The lawyer gave interviews to Armenian and Diaspora media outlets, which were republished by over 50 news agencies, Telegram channels, and social media pages.

"The cases of Armenian captives are being heard in a military court, but according to international law, a civilian should not be tried in a military court. This is illegal under international law because military judges and prosecutors are not independent and impartial. They are accountable to the commander-in-chief, who, in this case, is, of course, President Aliyev. So the outcome is predetermined. Ruben will be convicted, and so will the others. Ultimately, this is more of a political issue, and it's important now to understand how to get political prisoners arrested by dictators out of prison," Genser stated in an interview with "Azatutyun."

Vardanian is accused of over 40 articles, including terrorism, mercenarism, organizing war, and mass murders. Meanwhile, Vardanian served in Artsakh for only three and a half months. He faces life imprisonment in Baku. Genser spoke about Vardanian's physical condition, as well as the poor conditions of his and other Armenian captives' detention: "I would start with the prison conditions, which are terrible not only for him but, in fact, for all Armenian captives. This is a known fact. He has clearly lost a huge amount of weight since being taken into custody and has had a number of different health issues. We are particularly concerned that the International Committee of the Red Cross is no longer able to visit either Ruben or the other Armenian prisoners. The absence of independent observers is, obviously, a great concern. You know, for example, Ruben and the others cannot even have a Bible."

When asked by Aravot.am how Azerbaijan reacts to attempts to participate in the Baku trials, as well as the efforts of international human rights organizations to learn about the prison conditions of Armenian prisoners of war, Jared Genser replied: "Journalists were not allowed to participate, observers were sent back, and foreign department officials were also not allowed to participate in the trials. Therefore, this means that the Baku military court is holding non-transparent, closed court sessions, and the Azerbaijani government is trying to convince people that these are supposedly public court sessions by referring to media publications. However, these are Azerbaijani media publications. This is a violation of international law. Sham trials are being conducted in violation of international law."

The lawyer also spoke about the official position and actions of Yerevan. He did not meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan but noted that he had previously spoken quite openly and critically about the Armenian government's lack of efforts. The lawyer believes that the issue of captives should be part of the peace process, although Armenian authorities have already revealed that the agreed text of the peace treaty does not contain a provision on captives.

"But as soon as that peace agreement is signed, as I understand it, it includes a provision that says both sides will withdraw all lawsuits from international courts and will no longer be able to raise these issues. This means that if the captives are not released simultaneously with the signing of the agreement, then he will not be able to raise the issue of captives in the future. This means that the captives will remain trapped in Azerbaijan, and Aliyev will be able to do what he wants," Genser noted.

"This is not a legal process, this is a political process," Ruben Vardanian's international lawyer emphasized throughout his conversation with "Azatutyun." He added, "When his family hired me, I received a message from Ruben: to defend not only him but all Armenian captives and prisoners of war. Ruben, of course, is a symbol of what is happening in the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, of what happened to the people of Artsakh during the ethnic cleansing. Everywhere we went, we used his case as an example, speaking about everyone, that all captives must be released."