We Hope the ECHR Will Respond Quickly to the Application Regarding Ruben Vardanyan's Abduction: Yeghishe Kirakosyan

The government of Armenia has applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the abduction of former State Minister of Artsakh, Ruben Vardanyan, at the Azerbaijani checkpoint in Hakari. The Armenian side has demanded information about his status, the conditions of his detention, and his health condition.

Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia's representative on international legal issues, elaborated today, September 28, during a press conference at the National Assembly, stating that a request for individual interim measures to guarantee Vardanyan's rights was sent to the ECHR yesterday. “We have requested the court to guarantee Mr. Vardanyan’s rights, including the right to life and the prohibition against torture, inhuman, or degrading treatment. We hope the court will respond quickly. In any case, we are in contact with his relatives, and if we receive a response, we will inform them,” he said.

When asked if Yerevan was prepared to approach other courts regarding this issue, Kirakosyan responded, “I won’t say where we are prepared to appeal; you will definitely know when we do. We have two main international judicial bodies: one is the ECHR, and the other is the International Court of Justice.”

Regarding Baku's so-called “blacklist” and whether it is possible to prevent the arrests of those included in that list, Yeghishe Kirakosyan stated, “There are publications with the names of various individuals, and we see the names of individuals who are in a risky zone, or we can assume which group of individuals may be referred to. Regardless, we will also be consistent in that direction. I cannot imagine how prevention could be possible. But I believe that in this case, we should act post facto. There are certain measures that you will soon know about. We will try to utilize those available legal avenues to work on prevention as well.”

It should be noted that Ruben Vardanyan, the State Minister of Artsakh, was arrested by Azerbaijan while traveling from Artsakh to Armenia. He has already been detained for four months and is accused of financing terrorism.