Part 12
Part 11 is here
Pastinfo continues its series of publications titled “‘Justice’ According to Azerbaijan,” analyzing the indictment and verdict in the case of Ruben Vardanyan. For professional legal analysis, we have engaged Taron Simonyan, an international law expert and a founding partner of the ELL PARTNERSHIP law firm.
Today, we analyze the charges under the category of “Organized Crime.”
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- ORGANIZED CRIME
Article 218.1 — Creation or leadership of a criminal association (organization)
Alleged Act: Decisions on armed resistance, financing of formations, and procurements during his tenure as State Minister (November 4, 2022 – February 23, 2023); creation of the Artsakh Security and Development Front (May 18, 2023); and involvement with ASALA and Nemesis groups.
Evidence Underlying the Charge: Evidence regarding Ruben Vardanyan’s period of governance is absent; there is no order, decision, protocol, or subordination document. The evidence presented consists of the fact of his appointment and dismissal, letters from the State Security Service (SSS), examination of an iPad, and the examination protocol of the bag seized at the time of arrest. In the presented documents and materials, there is no mention of the existence of any such groups, nor is there a list of participants, registration, or testimony.
Imposed Penalty: Eleven years of imprisonment, handed down by the verdict.
Taron Simonyan’s Analysis: According to the court, the “organization” has been operating since 1987, and Robert Kocharyan is named as one of its leaders. Vardanyan “joined” in 2020, meaning he could not have been its creator. That leaves leadership, but his only position was as State Minister for 3.5 months, whose functions were limited to economic and social affairs, and after that, he was a private citizen. No order or decision demonstrating leadership exists in the verdict.
Most critical is the application of the concept of “criminal association.” By law, this refers to a stable group created to commit grave crimes; however, the court applies this designation to an entire state entity — the Republic of Artsakh — including its administration with its government, army, schools, and elected bodies. If applied consistently, any teacher or doctor who worked in that system would be considered a member of a criminal association.
Article 218.2 — Participation in a criminal association (organization)
Alleged Act: Joining the “criminal association” — as characterized by Azerbaijan — namely, the Republic of Artsakh, in “early December 2020” and participating until his arrest on September 27, 2023.
Evidence Underlying the Charge: No independent evidence exists. The materials from Articles 100.2 and 218.1 are repeated, including the financing of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative on December 9, 2020, “operational information,” and SSS letters.
Imposed Penalty: No penalty was imposed. The penalty prescribed by the article is six to 12 years of imprisonment.
Taron Simonyan’s Analysis: The article is included in the list of convictions, but it is missing from the list of penalties. The law requires assigning a punishment for each crime separately (Criminal Code, Article 66.1), and this obligation was simply not fulfilled.
There is also a deeper underlying issue: an individual is convicted simultaneously as both a leader and an ordinary member of the same entity, even though a leader is inherently a participant. Tellingly, in the cases of Articles 279.1 and 279.2, the court dropped the redundant charges for this very reason, yet failed to do so here, despite this being the fundamental charge upon which the entire prosecution relies.
