Azerbaijan begins trials of Karabakh ex-separatists including billionaire

By Nailia Bagirova and Lucy Papachristou

BAKU (Reuters) - A billionaire former banker and 15 other ex-officials in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region which Azerbaijan retook in 2023 went on trial on Friday in Baku in closed-door proceedings.

The most prominent of the defendants, Ruben Vardanyan, who earned his fortune in Russia before serving as the number-two official in Karabakh's separatist government from late 2022 until Feb. 2023, was tried separately from the other 15.

"I once again ... state my complete innocence and the innocence of my Armenian compatriots also being held as political prisoners and demand an immediate end to this politically-motivated case against us," Vardanyan, who faces up to life in prison for 42 charges including terrorism, said in a statement on Thursday shared by his family.

Defendants in the other trial include three senior former separatist leaders and other civilian and military figures who face charges including genocide and war crimes, according to Azerbaijani prosecutors.

The court denied Vardanyan's request to merge his case with those of the others, according to his son, David, who added that his trial was set to resume on Jan. 27 and be opened to the public.

Reuters was denied access to the courtrooms on Friday, which were open only to Azerbaijani state media.

Nagorno-Karabakh escaped Baku's control in fighting around the time of the Soviet collapse when hundreds of thousands of ethnic Azeris fled their homes. Baku casts Vardanyan and other former separatist officials as leaders of an illegal armed entity who tried to stop Azerbaijan from reclaiming the territory.

Peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan have effectively stalled more than a year after Baku retook Nagorno-Karabakh in a lightning offensive, prompting almost its entire ethnic Armenian population of around 100,000 to flee to Armenia.

Yerevan has said the war and ensuing mass exodus amounts to ethnic cleansing. Baku rejects that accusation and says the ethnic Armenians are free to return, although many say they would not feel safe in Azerbaijan.

Vardanyan, 56, was appointed state minister of Karabakh, the number-two position, after amassing a banking fortune in Russia. He was arrested alongside other officials by Azerbaijani authorities at a border checkpoint as he tried to flee Karabakh into Armenia in Sept. 2023.

In his statement, Vardanyan said he had not been given enough time to review the indictment against him, and the 422 volumes of evidence had been presented in Azeri, a language he does not speak.

Jared Genser, Vardanyan's international counsel, said the legal process was "extraordinarily opaque" and called the case "a political show trial".

"The substance of the so-called charges are not documented," he told Reuters by phone. "I haven't heard of any credible evidence that's been brought against him."

The Azerbaijani president's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Vardanyan's lawyers have said he was mistreated in custody. Azerbaijan's prosecutor general has said Vardanyan's rights were being respected and he had received visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

David, Vardanyan's son, said his father's mood was "stoic" when they last spoke on the phone this week.

"He tried to convey a very important message, that if both sides continue on the path of blame and these prosecutions and war, this is a road to nowhere," David told Reuters by phone.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova in Baku and Lucy Papachristou in London; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn and)