Each person thinks about another`s actions based on his own principles of his life - Ruben Vardanyan
On August 31 of this year, at a press conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking about the former State Minister of Artsakh who is in captivity, said the following:
According to Ruben Vardanyan's office, during his interrogation in a Baku prison, the former Artsakh state minister was asked questions about the Armenian prime minister's comment about him. Having received confirmation of the information about the statement in a conversation with his family, Ruben Vardanyan asked to share his position in a format open to the public:
Secondly, if the prime minister had any questions for me, he had the opportunity to ask them during our last meeting in November 2022, when I was still the state minister of Artsakh. However, I am still ready to answer any of his questions within my capabilities.
Thirdly, I would like to remind the prime minister that in the spring of 2018, when my partners and I first met and there were four of us, I honestly announced to him three points that I have always adhered to and will continue to adhere to:
1. My partners and I do not want and will not interfere in the politics of Armenia.
2. We are engaged in charity work regardless of our relations with the Armenian authorities, because we have done and are doing it for the people. For me, helping people remains the main task and humanitarian mission.
3. The only thing that can change my approach is the fate of Artsakh.
The events of 2020 and the ongoing threats against Artsakh have become a turning point for me, which I have always stated openly and consistently. Since then, all my actions have been dictated by concern for the fate of Artsakh and its people.
Now our people are going through one of the most difficult and difficult periods in their history. Despite all the difficulties and disagreements, I believe that we will be able to overcome this period and build a peaceful and bright future, " Ruben Vardanyan said.
Ruben Vardanyan is an influential Armenian business leader, social entrepreneur, and philanthropist who briefly served as the Minister of State for Nagorno-Karabakh. On September 27, 2023, as part of Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of 120,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben was arrested while attempting to cross the Lachin Corridor into Armenia with the remaining civilians. He was placed in pretrial detention the same day and has been held since then on baseless and trumped-up criminal charges. His detention was quickly followed by the arrest of other Nagorno-Karabakh leaders, also part of Azerbaijan's campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Earlier, the former (first) prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), renowned Argentine lawyer and human rights activist Luis Moreno Ocampo addressed an open letter to Armenians, calling for a campaign to free Armenian captives and thereby make COP29 a "truly peaceful conference." "You have the opportunity to lead a global movement and engage other interested communities in solving two of the most pressing problems of our time: climate change and genocide," he wrote, emphasizing that the UN global conference is an opportunity to reveal to the world the truth about Aliyev's criminal regime. On September 13, at a press conference in Yerevan, he said: "Our message ahead of COP29 in Baku is to free the Armenian hostages and stop the genocide."