May 16
A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader, Russian-Armenian billionnaire and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan by five months, Haqqin.az reports. Azerbaijan earlier made the same decision regarding the arrest of Karabakh ex-presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, former foreign minister David Babayan, parliament speaker Davit Ishkhanyan, as well as Generals Levon Mnatsakanyan and Davit Manukyan. Vardanyan, who has been incarcerated in Azerbaijan since September 2023, has been nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize by a group of renowned public and political figures, including a Nobel Laureate.