Overview
- Judges specified that Vardanyan will serve the first 10 years in prison and the remaining 10 in a strict‑regime correctional facility.
- Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment as he faced more than 40 counts, including financing terrorism, forming illegal armed groups, unlawful border crossing, murder and attempted seizure of power, which he denied.
- Vardanyan and his lawyers challenged the process, alleging a flawed military tribunal, limited access to materials and errors in the indictment, and he staged two hunger strikes while in detention.
- Azerbaijani officials said his procedural rights, including access to counsel and use of a language he speaks, were fully ensured.
- Earlier this month five other former Nagorno‑Karabakh leaders, including ex‑president Araik Arutyunyan, received life sentences in separate Baku military court verdicts.