American Lawyer Demands Azerbaijan Grant Access to Ruben Vardanyan

WASHINGTON, DC — Jared Genser a U.S. human rights lawyer representing Ruben Vardanyan has criticized the Azerbaijani authorities for not allowing him to visit Azerbaijan to see the Armenian billionaire and former Nagorno-Karabakh premier jailed there.

Genser said the ban undermines the credibility of Baku’s denial of Vardanyan’s ill-treatment in custody.

Vardanyan, who held the second-highest post in Karabakh’s leadership from November 2022 to February 2023, was arrested at an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin corridor as he fled the region along with tens of thousands of its ordinary residents. He was charged with “financing terrorism,” illegally entering Karabakh and supplying its armed forces with military equipment. He denies the accusations.

The tycoon was reportedly put in a punishment cell in an Azerbaijani prison last April after he went on hunger strike to demand the immediate release of himself and seven other Karabakh Armenian leaders also jailed by Baku. He agreed to end the protest after being allowed to talk to his wife, Veronika Zonabend, by phone three weeks later.

In a subsequent appeal sent to the UN Committee against Torture, Vardanyan’s family and Genser said he was denied water, forced to stand for many hours and subjected to sleep deprivation. Baku has denied the claims. It has barred Genser from visiting Azerbaijan and talking to his client.

“The only proof we can have is by what Ruben says,” Genser told RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service in an interview. “If Vardanyan was not tortured, then they have nothing to deny or hide. However, they are shamelessly spreading false information on behalf of the [International] Committee [of the Red Cross.]”

“I would be happy if you asked the Azerbaijani government why lawyer Jared Genser is not allowed to visit Azerbaijan and personally meet with Ruben Vardanyan,” he said.