Ruben Vardanyan`s son: Despite facing torture and threats in Baku,  the  issue of the rights of the people of Artsakh is very important  to my father

ArmInfo. Despite torture and all the personal threats in Baku, the issue of the rights of the people of Artsakh continues to be important to my father. This was stated by David Vardanyan, the son of the former state minister of  Nagorno-Karabakh, philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, in an interview  with the Armenian radio station AYPFM in France 

 "Despite the torture and all the personal threats against him in  Baku, he told us that the issue of the rights of the people of  Artsakh is extremely important to him. He remains steadfast. He says  that despite all the dangers, he wants to tell the truth. On the  first day of the trial, January 17, he also asked the Azerbaijani  court to observe a minute of silence in memory of all the victims of  the conflict, regardless of their nationality. Despite the situation,  despite all the injustices that he and other Armenians face, my  father wants to say that the only choice we have is to live in peace,  without war, to negotiate and understand each other," the  philanthropist's son noted. 

When asked what to expect from the trial of Ruben Vardanyan, the  philanthropist's son mentioned that many organizations, such as  Freedom House, Doctors Without Borders, have called Azerbaijan as one  of the most unfree countries in the world. Therefore there is little  hope for these "trials." "For example, last week my father received  documents in Azerbaijani and he had only three weeks to review the  file, which consists of more than 20,000 pages, with the help of a  translator provided by the Azerbaijani government. I do not know what  is happening with the others, but it is known that my father's case  is being considered separately. However, I believe that the situation  is the same for others. Azerbaijan is not a free country even for its  own citizens, and it cannot be so for Armenians," David noted.

 When asked what can be expected, in particular, from France or  Europe, to achieve the release of these prisoners of war, Vardanyan's  son noted that this "trial" is not an ordinary, open trial, since  there is simply no justice system in Azerbaijan. According to him,  this is why the only protection for Armenian prisoners of war can be  the reaction of the international community and the actions of the  governments of democratic countries. "For example, my father told me  that his lawyer does not have the opportunity to properly prepare the  defense. That is why Azerbaijan must be required to  declare this  trial  open, allowing French, English and American journalists to  attend these sessions and hear what is really happening there.  Because, despite the declared "open trial", only state-owned  Azerbaijani media are present," David believes. 

At the same time, according to him, the second important step is to  urge the French government to talk more about this injustice of  Azerbaijan and  put pressure the European Union to stop all deals  with Azerbaijan. "This is not only a question between Armenia and  Azerbaijan, it is also a question of Azerbaijan's attitude towards  its own citizens. Currently, there are over 300 political prisoners  in Azerbaijan, and if Azerbaijan is allowed to treat Armenian  prisoners of war in this way, I am sure that this country will do  even more against Armenia, against its own citizens, and against  French and European tourists," he noted. 

When asked whether Vardanyan's family expects anything from the new  US President Donald Trump, David noted that the Armenian people had  high hopes for the former US President regarding the Armenian  Genocide.  "He promised a lot to the Armenians, but did not do much.  These were only words that were not followed by actions. Now we have  hopes associated with the administration of the new US President.  Donald Trump wrote that he would protect the rights of Christians in  Nagorno-Karabakh, and we saw that some friends of Armenia and the  Armenian people have become part of the new administration. I know  that human rights issues, especially the issue of Christian rights,  are very important to them. That is why we are filled with hope that  this administration and President Trump will be able to help the  Armenian prisoners of war with these issues," the philanthropist's  son noted.

In conclusion, he emphasized that his family will continue working to  ensure that the Azerbaijani government respects the rights of  Armenians, recognizing that such steps cannot be effective without  international political support.