The lawyer retained by his family is not being allowed to meet with Ruben Vardanyan. According to information obtained by Qəzetçi, the new lawyer visited the Umbaki Penitentiary Center where Vardanyan is being held on several occasions, but has not been given the conditions necessary to meet with his client.
According to the source, Ruben Vardanyan is under pressure regarding his legal defense and is being compelled to make do with a court-appointed lawyer. It is reported that it was precisely as a result of this pressure that he renounced his lawyer Avraam Berman.
At a court hearing held on October 28, 2025, Vardanyan stated that he was dismissing his defense counsel Avraam Berman due to dissatisfaction.
Pro-government media reported that Vardanyan had not objected to being provided with a state-appointed lawyer.
Following that, the court appointed Emil Babashov as Vardanyan’s lawyer. However, Armenian media reported that Vardanyan had refused the state-appointed lawyer.
Qəzetçi sent an inquiry to the Penitentiary Service under the Ministry of Justice regarding the obstacles created to Vardanyan’s meetings with his lawyer, but had not received a response by the time of publication. Calls made to the institution’s press office also went unanswered.
The State Border Service stated that Ruben Vardanyan was detained on September 27, 2023, while travelling from Karabakh to Armenia. Vardanyan, an Armenian citizen charged with terrorism, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the Baku Military Court on February 17.
Vardanyan, whose trial was conducted separately from other Armenian detainees, now faces an appeals stage. His lack of access to an independent lawyer could result in a complaint not being submitted to the European Court of Human Rights.
Ruben Vardanyan served as State Minister of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh Republic for three months in 2022–2023.