BAKU: Azerbaijan on Tuesday sentenced the former Karabakh separatist leader Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison, the latest ruling against Armenian secessionists detained after Baku’s takeover of the region.
Azerbaijan’s seizure of its breakaway enclave of Karabakh in 2023 ended nearly three decades of control by Armenian separatists, prompting the mountainous territory’s entire ethnic Armenian population — more than 100,000 people — to flee.
After regaining control of the region, Baku arrested several separatist leaders on war crimes charges. Armenia has demanded their release.
The Baku Military Court sentenced Vardanyan to 20 years behind bars “under articles of the criminal code relating to crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, as well as articles connected with terrorism, and financing of terrorism.”
Vardanyan has rejected the charges and declared himself a political prisoner.
