A billionaire of the test in Azerbaijan who risk being left behind the peace deal

Ruben Vardanyan is one of Armenia’s most rich men, but his millions are a little useful now that he is facing a possible life -long term in the neighbor in neighboring Azerbaijan.

The two neighboring Caucasus countries have agreed to the text of a historical peace transaction to end for decades of a long conflict for the territory of Nagorno-Karabach, but Vardanyan and 15 other former ethnic Armenian leaders are not part of the agreement.

They have been served in a military court in Baku, charged with war crimes, dating back to decades.

Vardanyan, a 56-year-old Russian-Armenian entrepreneur, faces 42 charges, including planning and war, rental activities and terrorism.

A photo of him in court seems to show the bruises on his forehead and there are accusations of torture denied by Azerbaijan, who insists that his rights have been complied with in custody.

He marks a dramatic decline for a person who made his wealth in Russia and once rubs shoulders with celebrities such as George and Amal Clooney.

He established the first investment bank in Russia in the early 1990s and as the founder of the prestigious school for the Business Management of Business “Skolovo”, he enjoyed the reputation of a progressive visionary, a western voice in the business community of Russia in the 2000s.

But an investigation in 2019 from the project for reporting organized crime and corruption said that the employees of his investment bank had built a financial system that drank billions of dollars in the mid-2000s.

Vardanyan denied being aware of criminal activities and had never been legally accused.

He spent hundreds of millions of dollars on philanthropic projects in Armenia and transformed a quiet city into the snowy mountains in the northern part of the country, creating a school in order to attract students from all over the world.

“This school was presented as an institution that would lead Armenia into the world and the world in Armenia,” says Adam Armansky, director of the United World Colleges (UWC) by Dilidjan.

Everything changed for Ruben Vardanyan in September 2022, when he decided to move to Nagorno-Karabach, a mountain region that is historically populated by ethnic Armenians, but part of the Soviet Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have already fought two full -scale wars over the region, which were internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

The first war in Karabakh in the 1990s led to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of ethnic azers.

Then, in 2020, Azerbaijan – backed by Turkey – regained control over the large parts of the lost territory, while the Karabakh enclave remained in the hands of ethnic Armenian separatists.

Within months after the arrival of Vardanyan Azerbaijani authorities, they blocked the only time connecting the Nagorno-Karabach with the Republic of Armenia, Exposure to the population of the region to severe food shortages.

Vardanyan abandoned his Russian citizenship and became a factual minister of Nagorno-Karabach, whom the Armenians call Arsah. He uses his name, contacts and the ability to speak English freely to raise awareness of the difficult position of Armenians from Karabakh.

“My father made more interviews with international media for three months than all other Nagorno-Karabach presidents after 30 years. The amount of attention was received by the Western media clearly annoyed Azerbaijan,” his son David Vardanyan told the BBC.

There was speculation that Vardanyan had moved there to avoid international sanctions imposed on Russia’s billionaires with links to the Kremlin.

The Baku government considered its decision to take the position as illegal.

His son insists that he was led by the desire to help local Armenians.

“We had a dispute over our last family vacation. I was completely against his decision, which put the whole family at risk. He said he would not be able to live with himself, knowing that he did nothing for the Armenians from Karabach.”

His father’s long-term friend Arman Jilavian said that even the farthest chances of helping ethnic Armenians stay in their land is enough for him.

“Some would say this is irrational, some say it’s a super -calculated political move. I think no one is true,” he says.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan began a military operation and took control of the entire territory for 24 hours.

The leaders of Nagorno-Karabach capitulate and over 100,000 ethnic Armenians were forced to leave their homes.

Vardanyan was arrested by Azerbaijani authorities when he joined the mass eviction in Armenia.

Much of his time was spent alone, his family says.

He has already been hungry twice, protesting what he called the lack of a suitable trial against the background of allegations of torture.

Fifteen other former Karabakh leaders have also been tried in the Baku Military Court for suspected war crimes committed since the late 1980s.

Vardanyan is examined separately, but many in Armenia see all cases by showing trials.

Only Azerbaijani’s main state television channel is allowed to capture the trials.

Azerbaijan insists that he complies with international legal standards and that he has responsibility to be reported in order to report, suspects that they have committed war crimes.

But last month, the Baku government ordered the closure of local International Red Cross services, the only international organization with access to Armenian prisoners.

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on “the illegal detention and false trials of the Armenian hostages”, calling for their immediate release.

Vardanyan returns to court on Tuesday, but supporters fear that his case will be overshadowed by a historic peace deal, forming between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The details are yet to be made public, but employees say that the text project does not include the issue of prisoners in court or the right of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabach to return to their homes.

The failure to mention prisoners has caused criticism of the government of Prime Minister Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan at home and abroad.

But Arsen Torosyan, the Armenian ruling party’s civil contract, believes that this issue should be resolved separately.

“This is a peace treaty between the conflict parties with a long history of hatred with each other. I personally believe that only the filling in or signing this peace treaty can create a reason to resolve the issue of political prisoners. I see no other way to do it.”

Vardanyan warned it was a mistake.

“This is not just the test of me and 15 others – this is the test of all Armenians,” he said in a voice message to the supporters.

“If you do not understand this – this is a great tragedy, because this is not the end of history, not the end of the conflict, this is only the next stage of the conflict, for all countries.”