The wife of Armenian businessman and philanthropist, former Nagorno Karabakh Prime Minister Ruben Vardanyan, Veronika Zonabend, has announced a new humanitarian initiative aimed at restoring contact between Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijan and their families.
In a public statement released on Sunday, Zonabend said she plans to organize an international women’s humanitarian delegation to travel to Baku in the coming weeks. The initiative, she noted, was launched at the request of her husband, who has been detained in Azerbaijan since September 2023.
Zonabend said that Vardanyan has been separated from his family for more than three years and has not had the opportunity to meet his granddaughters, who were born during his detention. She stressed, however, that the initiative is not only about her husband but also about 18 other Armenians who remain in Azerbaijani custody.
According to Zonabend, many of the detainees have not seen their relatives, received letters, or heard the voices of loved ones for years. She argued that following the closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation office in Baku, Armenian detainees’ families have effectively lost regular independent humanitarian access to their relatives.
As part of the initiative, Zonabend has appealed to Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Commissioner, Sabina Aliyeva, requesting support for the delegation’s visit. She called for arrangements to allow meetings with Armenian detainees held at the Umbaki Penitentiary Complex, as well as the transfer of family packages, photographs, letters and other personal belongings permitted under Azerbaijani law.
“This initiative is not a political act,” Zonabend said in her statement. “It is an attempt to restore at least a minimal connection between those in detention, their families, and all those who care about their fate.”
She added that over the next two weeks, organizers will collect letters of support for Armenian detainees in Azerbaijan and will seek to deliver them alongside family packages during the planned humanitarian visit.
The names of the women expected to join the delegation will be announced at a later date, according to the statement.
