During the latest trial session in Baku of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, his lawyer, Abraham Berman, submitted a motion to the court demanding a forensic linguistic examination, noting that there are several inconsistencies in the Russian translation of the indictment.

Only Azerbaijani state and government-controlled media outlets are present at the trial. Thus, it is not possible to verify the statements attributed to the Armenians on trial and other details of the trial from other sources.

AzerTaj, Azerbaijan’s state news agency, reports Baku’s Military Cort  rejected the motion since, according to that country’s criminal procedure legislation, the examination is conducted to clarify significant circumstances and because “the defense did not mention such circumstances that can only be revealed through an expert examination.”

Berman then challenged the panel of judges examining the case. Judge Zeynal Aghayev noted that the defense has repeatedly presented similar objections and hasn’t presented any new evidence in this respect. Therefore, he left the objection without examination.

(Azerbaijani border guards detained Vardanyan and seven other former Nagorno-Karabakh officials in September 2023 as they attempted to cross into Armenia following Azerbaijan’s final assault on the region.)

Top photo: AzerTaj