Billionaire Ruben Vardanyan, a former minister in the government of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and former Russian citizen who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Azerbaijan, has appealed to the Armenian Ombudsman, Anahit Manasyan, through his family. While in a Baku prison, Vardanyan reported his recent meeting with the Azerbaijani Ombudsman, Sabina Aliyeva.
In Kabardino-Balkaria, five prisoners were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, ranging from 17 to 26 years. They were accused of participating in the terrorist organization "Jamaat," recruiting, and promoting terrorism. According to the Southern District Military Court, the organization existed in the prison from 2009 to 2011.
Akhmed Alborov was sentenced to 26 years in a special-regime prison colony, Kazbek Khuranov to 23 years, Eldar Tamazov to 23 years in a maximum-security prison colony, Sergei Barelnikov to 20 years with a fine, and Teymur Medvedev to 17 years. All three will serve the first seven years of their sentences in prison.
According to investigators, the defendants allegedly joined "Jamaat" at different times and participated in its activities. The court found that Alborov and Khuranov planned the crimes, led the participants, and held meetings, appointing assistants to recruit other prisoners. Khuranov personally recruited the prisoners, and the other participants also encouraged them to join the group.