Veronika Zonabend, the wife of Ruben Vardanyan, former State Minister of Artsakh, who is being illegally held in Baku, has issued a statement about a humanitarian visit to Baku.
“The International Women’s Humanitarian Delegation will be ready to travel to Baku as soon as access to the Armenian prisoners and safety conditions for its members can be agreed. We are responsible for each of them, so we consider it necessary to reach these agreements first.
The delegation is made up of women from different countries known for their public and professional work. They wanted to visit all the Armenian prisoners at the Umbaki penitentiary complex and give them letters, photographs and parcels from their loved ones. Since June 2026, I have contacted Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) several times. I proposed different formats: a visit by the whole delegation, by a small group, or a visit accompanied by a representative of her office. I also asked for safety conditions to be agreed. Unfortunately, we have not yet received a response.
In the meantime, reports have appeared in the Azerbaijani media about my possible arrest if I come. We are also concerned that since August 25, Ruben’s local lawyer has not been allowed to see him. We hope this issue will be resolved. I have also asked the Armenian government for diplomatic assistance. Since my meeting with Siranush Sahakyan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 17, no official has yet been designated as responsible, and our written request remains unanswered.
Economic contacts are developing between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Armenian delegations are visiting Azerbaijan. This proves that all the preconditions exist for organizing a humanitarian visit, and visiting the Armenian prisoners should be on the agenda of one of these visits. We decided not to hold back the letters the delegation was supposed to deliver in person. On October 1, 1,254 letters collected for all the Armenian prisoners were handed over to the Armenian government with a request to help deliver them to Baku. We hope every letter reaches its recipient. Every prisoner should receive words of support and know that they are remembered.
I am grateful to every member of the delegation and to everyone who wrote a letter of support. Our goal remains the same: to see our loved ones and restore the prisoners’ contact with their families. We will continue this work until they all return home. We understand that this road may be long, but we believe it will lead to a just solution,” the statement says.
The post Humanitarian visit to Baku postponed: Veronika Zonabend on risks and lack of response from authorities appeared first on Alphanews.