During debates on candidates for the Court of Cassation’s Criminal Chamber, Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan rejected opposition criticism, particularly remarks by Elinar Vardanyan of the Hayastan faction, accusing the opposition of fabricating false agendas.
“Is there anyone in Armenia who thinks Baku’s trials are not fake, or that our captives should not come home? All our prisoners must return, and those trials are staged. You are creating a meaningless topic and fighting it,” Rubinyan stated, stressing that judicial nominees are not politicians and cannot be expected to echo partisan positions.
Ruling Civil Contract MP Vahagn Aleksanyan went further, delivering a scathing rebuke: “First explain why these people ended up in Baku’s prisons. You are the ones who sponsored their being there,” he declared.
He accused the opposition of misleading the public with slogans about refusing negotiations: “Go tell their families that it was your statements and demands that put them in prison. You opposed Sofia’s calls to negotiate, you are their sponsors in prison. Say why those people left Karabakh in the first place. You twisted their fate and used them as material for rallies.”
Aleksanyan argued that the authorities consistently urged dialogue, while the opposition blocked it, creating false hopes. “People, can it be that they never initiate anything constructive?” he concluded.
In September 2023, following a nine-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic cleansing of its Armenian population, Azerbaijan captured former Artsakh leaders including ex-presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, ex-state minister Ruben Vardanyan, foreign minister Davit Babayan, and others. They face fabricated charges in Baku, with possible life sentences. Their show trial began on January 17.
