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Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict

Former Nagorno-Karabakh state minister arrested on charges of funding terrorism

According to the agency, Vardanyan was detained on September 27, 2023, after which a court issued a warrant for his arrest

BAKU, September 28. /TASS/. Ex-State Minister of the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan was arrested in Azerbaijan on multiple charges, including financing terrorism, the State Security Service of Azerbaijan said.

"The evidence gathered established reasonable suspicion that Ruben Karlenovich Vardanyan, born in 1968, currently a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, had committed criminal acts under Articles 214-1 ("Financing terrorism"), 279.3 ("Creating and participating in illegitimate armed formations or groups") and 318.1 ("Illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan") of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code," it said in a statement.

According to the agency, Vardanyan was detained on September 27, 2023, after which a court issued a warrant for his arrest.

The State Border Service of Azerbaijan Republic said earlier that Vardanyan was detained as he attempted to cross into Armenia.

Russian businessman Vardanyan co-founded Troika Dialog, Russia’s oldest brokerage company, in 1991 and also served as the first president of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo. In September 2022, he renounced his Russian citizenship and moved to Nagorno-Karabakh, thanking Russia for his success in business and for deploying peacekeepers to the troubled region. Vardanyan was appointed the unrecognized republic’s state minister in November 2022 but was removed from his post in February 2023.

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Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

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