Ruben Vardanyan sent an audio message of peace from his Baku isolation cell

[Azortac]

In an emotional audio message recorded Wednesday to his family from isolation in a Baku prison, businessman and former Artsakh state minister Ruben Vardanyan said he is “ready to bear the most severe punishment if only it would help bring peace and stability,” and optimistically believes one day it will be achieved.

He expressed gratitude to his supporters and apologized for any pain caused by his decision to go on a hunger strike, now lasting more than two weeks. He reassured listeners that his health is normal and spirit strong, and that his protest is not about the conditions of his captivity but against the judicial process he is facing, one that observers say falls far short of international legal standards.

“If there is such a desire to judge me— judge me professionally, publicly, openly, in accordance with Azerbaijani laws and legal procedures, in the presence of international journalists and observers. Stop artificially separating my case… Do not violate your own laws. Do not falsify documents, do not manipulate evidence… Don’t mock the judicial system with this show trial… If you are going to judge, then judge fairly.”

Vardanyan asserted that Azerbaijan is not just putting him and the other former Artsakh leaders and civilians being detained on trial, but all Armenians. He pushed back on President Ilham Aliyev’s claims that Azerbaijan’s victory marks the end of the conflict, but that it is “just another stage, unfortunately, for all sides.”

He reaffirmed that moving to Nagorno-Karabakh was a conscious decision made with full awareness of the risks and said he takes full responsibility for it. Reflecting on his time there, he spoke fondly of the projects he helped implement and his memories of living with its people.

Saying he does not know if he will ever have the chance to speak with his family again, he apologized to anyone he might have offended, saying it was not intentional. His call was made the day after Azerbaijan announced that the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has acted as the only lifeline to the Armenian prisoners, is being expelled from the country.

Vardanyan also expressed deep sorrow for those who lost their homeland, particularly the children who were forced to flee due to the September 2023 ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. “I was not able to do everything I could and should have to prevent this from happening,” he lamented.

He warned against continuing cycles of violence, saying: “evil must never be answered with evil – for then it only grows and strengthens. And after Sumgait comes Khojaly, and this cycle goes on endlessly. This path was never acceptable to me, because it has no future.”

Despite being imprisoned, Vardanyan thanked the Azerbaijanis he encountered who upheld basic human values, even as they viewed him as an enemy. He also forgave those who showed him hostility, “just as I forgive the Armenians who behave the same way toward me and my family in Armenia.”

At peace with himself, he reaffirmed his commitment to his people and the values he believes go beyond a single human life. He urged Armenians never to succumb to despair or indifference, believing his sacrifice is “the only way to awaken you from the indifference in which you find yourselves.”

Vardanyan ended his message expressing love and respect, and with the names of his Armenian parents and grandparents in tribute to their legacy.

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