Mock trial in Baku for former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh

Baku has initiated the trial of sixteen Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, imprisoned after the fall of the autonomous republic in September 2023. In this context, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is starting the first part of its 2025 session on Monday, January 27. This is an opportunity to maintain a firm stance against the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation, whom it had already suspended in January 2024. Following an initial conference in October 2024 at the UN Human Rights Council to denounce the tragic fate of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and French detainees in Azerbaijan, the European Centre for Law and Justice will hold another conference in March 2025.

On January 17, 2025, the military tribunal in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, opened the trial of sixteen Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, out of the 23 held in custody. Among the accused are the former State Minister (equivalent to Prime Minister) of the former autonomous republic, Ruben Vardanyan, and three former presidents: Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan. Facing 42 charges, including “terrorism,” “separatism,” and “war crimes,” these men risk life imprisonment.

All were arrested in September 2023 following the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic cleansing of 120,000 Armenians after a nine-month blockade imposed in December 2022, described as genocidal by Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). On October 1, 2024, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) organized a conference to support them at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, on the sidelines of the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council. We will organize another conference in March 2025, during the 58th session.

A mockery of justice

This fabricated trial is being held behind closed doors, preventing any independent oversight by international observers, foreign media, NGOs, or the families of the accused. Azerbaijani authorities cite “national security” concerns to justify this lack of transparency. Some of the accused, who have never worn military uniforms, are nonetheless being tried in a military court. It was only a week before the preliminary hearing that Ruben Vardanyan’s American lawyer was granted access to his client’s case file, which contains over 20,000 pages written in Azerbaijani and Russian, languages he does not understand.

Ruben Vardanyan had voluntarily renounced his Russian citizenship to become State Minister of the Republic of Artsakh (another name for Nagorno-Karabakh) from October 2022 to February 2023. The inhumane conditions of his detention since September 2023 prompted his lawyer to file an urgent appeal in June 2024 with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, alleging acts of torture and degrading treatment, such as denial of sleep, water, and the right to sit. Nominated in 2024 for the Nobel Peace Prize for his charitable and humanitarian work following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, he has drawn particular attention from Baku and will be tried separately. His trial is set to resume on January 27, while the trial for the other fifteen accused is scheduled for January 21.

The denial of Armenian existence in Nagorno-Karabakh

In power in Azerbaijan since 2003, Ilham Aliyev has concentrated power in his own hands and those of his extended family through successive constitutional amendments and tight control over elections. Corruption is rampant, and the official political opposition, journalists, and human rights activists have been weakened by years of persecution. This repression targets not only Armenians but also Azerbaijanis and even French citizens, as highlighted in the ECLJ’s November 2024 report on human rights in Azerbaijan.

Aliyev now weaponizes the judiciary to humiliate the former leaders of the Republic of Artsakh. His goal is to dismantle what remains of its institutions. This represents a grimly logical continuation: after emptying Nagorno-Karabakh of its Armenian population, Aliyev is encouraging the settlement of Azerbaijanis and actively working to destroy churches, monasteries, khachkars (typical Armenian cross-stones), and administrative buildings. Beyond simply erasing traces of the Armenians' millennia-long presence, the Azerbaijani dictator has embarked on a campaign to deny their very existence, as detailed in the ECLJ’s June 2024 report on the systematic erasure of Armenian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia under constant threat from Azerbaijan

Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan remain high. Ilham Aliyev continuously refers to Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan.” On January 8, 2025, he accused it of being “governed for 30 years by proponents of fascist ideology.” According to him, this makes Armenia a “threat to the region,” concluding: “Fascism will be eradicated either by the Armenian leaders or by us—there is no other solution.” In response to Aliyev’s repeated racial hate speech and threats against Armenia and Armenians, a case brought by Armenia to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on September 16, 2021, is still ongoing (Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Armenia v. Azerbaijan).

Baku continues to occupy 200 km² of Armenia’s sovereign territory, and Aliyev openly expresses ambitions to violate Armenia’s borders to create a “corridor” intended to establish a territorial connection between Azerbaijan, its Nakhchivan exclave, and Turkey, while cutting off Armenia’s border with Iran. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has affirmed his commitment to peaceful negotiations and seeks to avoid escalation, making significant concessions to Azerbaijan, including redrawing borders and transferring strategically important Armenian villages along the main route connecting Armenia and Georgia.

The limited support of the international community for Armenia

In its quest for international support, the former Soviet republic signed a strategic partnership charter with the United States on January 14, 2025, paving the way for strengthened trade, strategic, and political ties between the two countries. On January 9, 2025, the Armenian government officially approved a bill to initiate the process of joining the European Union (EU), which is already proving to be fraught with challenges. This landlocked country has no shared border with the EU and remains heavily dependent on Moscow economically. It also hosts a Russian military base. Nevertheless, Armenia joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) on February 1, 2024, which had issued an arrest warrant in March 2023 against the Russian president for the “deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan continues to escape sanctions. Despite repeated challenges from the European Parliament, the July 2022 gas agreement aimed at doubling EU natural gas imports from Azerbaijan by 2027 remains in effect. Hosting COP29 in Baku in November 2024 provided Azerbaijan with an international platform to polish its image, without adequately addressing its “greenwashing” practices or the deprivation of fundamental freedoms for its people. At the opening of the January 2024 session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) suspended Azerbaijan’s delegation, although Azerbaijan remains a member of the Council of Europe. As the 2025 session begins this January 27, PACE must remain vigilant and firm in addressing Azerbaijan’s impunity.