Former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan sacked his state-appointed lawyer during his February 13 appearance before Baku’s Military Court.

According to Azerbaijani state news agency Azertac, Vardanyan said he would be represented by Avraam Berman, a private lawyer he’s hired to defend him against a variety of war crimes and terrorism charges. The court granted Vardanyan’s request.

Assistant to the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General for Special Assignments Tugay Rahimli, according to AzerTaj, referred “to the damage caused by Armenia to the defense arsenal of the Azerbaijani army and to the ecology and nature of Azerbaijan.”

Rahimli claimed that from the late 1980s to September 20, 2023, when Azerbaijan retook control of Artsakh, “Azerbaijan suffered material damage in the amount of more than 13.4 billion manats, and intentional damage was caused to the defense arsenal of the Azerbaijani army in the amount of more than 908 million manats.”

(1 billion Azerbaijani manats equals $588.2 million according to the current exchange rate.)

Rahimli continued by claiming that between 1988 and 2024, 18,351 people were deliberately killed, including 3,053 civilians, 15,298 military personnel, and 55,177 people were injured.

 Nasir Bayramov, Head of the Defense Department of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office, read out the charges brought against Ruben Vardanyan.

These include illegally crossed the state border of Azerbaijan in September 2022 and settling in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in the area of ​​​​the temporary deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

Vardanyan is also accused of “collecting funds belonging to himself and foreign citizens, supporting armed formations and groups not provided for by Azerbaijani legislation.”

The indictment states that Ruben Vardanyan “paid monthly salaries to local self-defense units, as well as other armed formations and groups, consisting mainly of professional soldiers.  

According to the indictment, “he also entered into a conspiracy with the founder of the terrorist organization VоMa, Vladimir (Vova) Levanovich Vartanov, and provided financial resources to organize training courses for instructors with the aim of carrying out terrorist acts against Azerbaijani citizens.”

Azerbaijan also accuses Vardanyan of having agreed to negotiate with officials of the AKVA company operating in the Russian Federation to create anti-aircraft missiles and other systems. The Azerbaijani state news agency also writes that Ruben Vardanyan “conducted negotiations for the purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).”

According to the indictment, Ruben Vardanyan “initiated the Nemesis-2 terrorist operation with the aim of carrying out terrorist acts against representatives of the Azerbaijani diplomatic corps in foreign countries and citizens performing their official duties.”

Given the large volume of the indictment, it was noted that its publication will continue at the next trial. The next court hearing is scheduled for February 17.

Top photo: Azertac