A court without honor: Armenian leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh turn from defendants into hostages

A court without honor: Armenian leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh turn from defendants into hostages

The harrowing images of Ruben Vardanyan, who looks emaciated due to a hunger strike, have sent shockwaves through Armenia. From November 2022 through February 2023, Vardanyan served as Yerevan’s State Minister of Artsakh, a region better known in the West as Nagorno-Karabakh. In September 2023, after a successful Azerbaijani military offensive drove Armenian forces out of the region, Vardanyan was arrested by Baku’s authorities in the region. No…