The BBC Caucasus Correspondent Reihan Demitrin has published an article on the fate of the possible "peace agreement" between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the fate of Ruben Vardanyan and Armenian captives in Baku, noting that they "can stay out of peace agreement."
Below is the article with reductions.
"Ruben Vardanyan is one of the richest people in Armenia, but his millions do not benefit now when he stands before the prospect of life imprisonment in Azerbaijan. These two neighboring countries of the Caucasus agree on the text of the agreement on the suspension of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but Vardanyan and the other 15 former members of the Karabakh ethnic Armenian leadership are not included in this agreement. They are judged by the Baku Military Court, accused of war crimes.
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Vardanyan refused his Russian citizenship and became the de facto prime minister of Nagorno Karabakh, who calls Armenians Artsakh. He used his name, ties and knowledge of English to voice about the difficult situation of the Armenians of Karabakh.
"This international attention to Karabakh was clearly irritated to Azerbaijan," said Ruben Vardanyan's son, David Vardanyan, told the BBC.
There have been assumptions that Vardanyan has moved there to avoid international sanctions against Russian billionaires who have links to the Kremlin.
The Baku government considers the decision to hold that position illegal. His son claims that he was guided by the desire to help local Armenians. "During our last meeting, we had a dispute. I was completely opposed to his decision, which in danger he and his whole family. He said he could not live, knowing that he did nothing to the Armenians of Karabakh. "
His father's long-term friend Arman Jilavyan says that even the most remote opportunity to help ethnic Armenians in their ancestors was enough. "Some will say that this was irrational, some say that this was a calculated political step. I think none of them are right, "he said.
Ruben Vardanyan has already been on hunger strike twice as a complaint against the background of improper trial and torture accusations.
The other 15 members of the former Karabakh leadership are also convicted of the Baku Military Court on charges of war crimes since the late 1980s.
Azerbaijan claims that the trial meets international legal standards and it is authorized to judge those suspected of war crimes. However, last month, the Baku government instructed to close the local Red Cross local offices, the only international organization that had access to Armenian prisoners.
... Details of the peace agreement have not been released yet, but officials say that the text of the project does not include the issue of prisoners or the right to return to the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The non-mention of the prisoners was criticized by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan's government within the country and abroad. However, the representative of the "Civil Agreement" party Arsen Torosyan thinks that this issue must be resolved separately. "This is a peace treaty between the conflicting countries. I personally think that only the end or signing of this peace agreement can create a basis for solving the issue of political prisoners. "
Vardanyan warned from prison that this is wrong. "This is not only the trial of me and the other 15 people, but the trial of all Armenians," he told about the recording of the supporters. "
