Former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, now on trial in Baku on numerous war crimes charges, has sent an audio message from his prison via his family, asking them to record his phone conversation and make it public.

In his message, Vardanyan, speaking Russian and Armenian, calls for peace based on fundamental human values ​​and dignity.

Here’s Vardanyan’s translated phone message.

Dear compatriots,

Today is March 5. I want to say a few words to you as Ruben Vardanyan, just like me: Armenian in spirit, thinking and speaking Russian. A man of the world, happy with my wife, loving everyone, self-educated and believing in God.

First, I would like to thank all of you for supporting me with thoughts, prayers, letters, and not being indifferent to what is happening here. I feel it, and it gives me strength. I am in good shape, strong, and my health is normal, I am at peace with myself and strong in spirit, like never before.

I want to apologize to my beloved wife, my family, all my relatives and friends, to whom I cause pain and emotion with this decision of mine. (Vardanyan is on hunger strike – Ed.) But you know that each of us has his own path, and I have chosen this path for myself. God predetermines our destinies, and the paths are always chosen by us. Even if we refuse our choice, someone else always makes it for us.

I want to emphasize once again that this decision of mine is in no way conditioned by me, or my conditions in the isolation cell, like last time, when I was on a hunger strike for twenty days, until April 24, at midnight. This is... a protest against the process, against how this judicial process is being conducted.

I realized what I was going for. I was ready and am ready for worse conditions. I am not a victim. I do not need to feel sorry for myself, because this is a conscious decision.

My demands are the same. If you are judging, judge professionally, openly, and publicly, in accordance with all the laws and procedures of Azerbaijan, together with others, in the presence of international media, observers, if you are so sure of your justice. Let's not artificially single out my case. Why is my case being singled out when all my accusations are built on the fact that you (Azerbaijan - Ed.) think I am a member of an organized criminal group that I have been a member of since 1987?

Don’t violate your own laws and procedures. Don’t falsify documents, don’t falsify records. After all, you have everything: all my gadgets, all my documents. Don’t turn the trial into a formal trial, an imitation, a show. If you judge, judge correctly.

I want to say the following to all my compatriots. Dear people, they are not judging me and the other fifteen people, but all Armenians. And if you don’t understand that, then it is a great tragedy, because this is not the end of the whole history, the conflict, but just another stage, to the regret of all sides.

I am accused of everything. Everything that has happened since 1987. There is no problem. I am ready to bear the most severe punishment for this, if only it would help establish peace and tranquility. But it is an illusion that everyone will leave you alone and you can calmly do your job and enjoy life without thinking about these problems that lie ahead.

When I moved to Artsakh, I knew what I was in for. Any person does everything in his life only for himself, for his own sake, and answers before God alone for all his thoughts, words, and actions. I am deeply convinced of this. And even if someone sacrifices himself for the sake of the motherland, family, or principles, it is only his personal decision and his responsibility. So, in this sense, I did everything consciously.

I do not know whether I will have the opportunity to communicate with you or not, so I want to apologize to all those whom I have ever offended by word, deed, or inattention. Please forgive me. I did not do it with bad intentions, out of envy, arrogance, or motivated by revenge. I would not want to hurt anyone.

I want to talk specifically about one person who is the hardest for me to hurt here. I am talking about Alvard. If I had not been in your car with you and your husband, he would be next to you right now. Please forgive me. For me, it is the hardest punishment that because of me another person is suffering here with all of us.

I also want to apologize separately to all the children who were deprived of their homeland for not being able to do everything I could and should have done to prevent this from happening. I did as much as I thought I had the moral right to do because I was with you. I am happy that I managed to prevent some things that in my opinion would have finally broken us as a nation. I managed to stop it and change the course of history a little.

I was happy to be with you, with the people of Artsakh, on those difficult days, to feel your love, trust, warmth, and gratitude. I am proud of you, the simple people I love.

I am an incredibly happy person. God gave me a wonderful family, friends. I have implemented a vast number of projects with my unique partners. I have seen a lot in the world. But despite all the difficulties, the blockade, the uncertainty of the future, the difficult conditions, those were some of the best days of my life. Together we were restoring Hakobavank, sharing bread and dancing our dances.

I am happy that I managed to implement several dozen projects in Artsakh with many friends and partners. In particular, I would like to express special gratitude to my Muslim friend (I do not want to mention his name so as not to create problems) for restoring the Shushi Mosque together.

Remember that evil should never be answered with evil. it grows from it and becomes stronger and stronger. After Sumgait, Khojaly happened, and so on endlessly. That path has always been unacceptable to me, because it has no future, it is only a dead end which, unfortunately, does not have a good ending.

I would also like to thank the substantial number of Azerbaijanis with whom I have come into contact here for their loyalty to human values, even when they consider me an enemy and have accumulated resentment. They have preserved their human image. And to all those who behaved differently, I pity and forgive them, as well as those Armenians in Armenia who treat me and my family the same way.

I am optimistic and believe that despite all this, we will overcome all challenges and difficulties, and will live again in our homeland, in peace with our neighbors, respecting each other. I believe that we will overcome mutual hostility and stored hatred, as happened with some peoples.

But if we want to really do this, we need a real long-term peace, not one signed on paper, but one that is brought to life. We must remember that no one owes us anything, that only with strong people, with an elite, with dignity, with a country with honor, real agreements can be reached.

This is a great responsibility for the elite, which is considered an elite not because it has a lot of money, connections, power or even intellect, but for the elite that understands that to whom much is given, even more is required. And for that real elite, the personal is always after the debt to the public, the responsibility for the future of the nation and the country always takes precedence over all personal interests and desires.

And finally, in memory of all the victims of this terrible conflict. I am deeply convinced that there are more important things than the life of one person. It is the need to maintain faith in goodness, light, values, sanctities, spiritual foundations within yourself, which distinguishes a person from a robot. Because without it, the world will crumble into chaos or be destroyed by floods or other disasters. You cannot become a slave to the golden calf. All this has already happened in the history of humankind. Let's not allow it to happen again and make every effort for this, because faith in values ​​​​is the basis of our future.

Therefore, for the sake of preserving these fundamental values, pillars, and messages, which are of paramount importance to me, I am ready to go in peace with myself to the end and be completely happy. Because happiness begins and ends in you, when you are in harmony with yourself.

I am happy that I can serve my people and the principles that I consider important for all of humanity, not just for our people.

Lastly, I realized here that you can never give in to despair, indifference, and I understood why it is the most terrible of the seven sins. I used to think that envy or arrogance was worse. Meanwhile, despair, despondency means that the spark of God has gone out in you, that you have stopped believing, that you have simply thrown up your hands and given up. I urge you to never do that. I would like us to never be disappointed and not give in to despair. Please. It is the basis of our future. That is why I appreciate the chance that has been given to me. I will do everything I can and will continue to do what I can.

I love you all. I am sure that everything will be fine. I have always been, am and will be with you. I am a person who wants to live, love and continue his activities. But I think that what I am doing is right because it is the only way to get you out of the apathy you are in.

I am confident that despite all the difficulties that lie ahead of us, we will overcome them. I am with you as Ruben Vardanyan, Karlen's son, Hamo Vardanyan's grandson and with all my heritage - the heritage of my parents, as well as my Artsakh grandmother. I thank you for giving me this happiness of being Armenian and loving my homeland.