Ruben Vardanyan refuses to appeal 20-year sentence

The family of Ruben Vardanyan announced Wednesday that he will not appeal the 20-year prison sentence handed down by a military court in Baku. 

The family said the decision not to file an appeal “does not signify agreement with the verdict” but is a “conscious refusal to legitimize a process that, from the outset, bore none of the hallmarks of justice.”

According to the statement, Vardanyan considers the trial politically motivated and fundamentally flawed. The family said hearings were held behind closed doors, independent observers were excluded, and defense motions were ignored. They added that the full text of the verdict was not read aloud in court, and they still have not received an official written copy of the judgment with a proper translation. 

“An appeal has meaning only where there exists a genuine possibility of correcting errors,” the statement read. “When violations are systemic and affect the fundamental principles of justice, an appeal becomes yet another instrument for legitimizing unlawful prosecution.”

Vardanyan had previously refused to mount a defense during the proceedings, describing the trial as “an imitation of justice.” In his closing statement last week, he instead recited Azerbaijani poetry, and spoke of dignity and peace, and saying Armenia and Azerbaijan must exist as equal neighbors. 

Last week, the Baku military court sentenced Vardanyan to 20 years in prison, though prosecutors had sought life imprisonment. He was arrested after Azerbaijan’s military assault on Artsakh in September 2023 after a nine month blockade, and was charged with numerous offenses, including financing terrorism, the creation of illegal armed groups, and war crimes. 

He has denied all charges, and his family and legal team have condemned the trial as politically motivated and predetermined. 

The family said they will now pursue justice through international legal mechanisms and other international institutions, adding that refusing to appeal “is not the end of the struggle, it is a refusal to take part in a farce.”