CANBERRA: Professor the Hon. Gareth Evans, Australia’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs, has penned a letter to the current Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, urging Australia to call for the release of Mr Ruben Vardanyan and his colleagues imprisoned by Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
Professor Evans, who served as a cabinet minister in the Labor Hawke and Keating governments and for eight years as Minister for Foreign Affairs, made a personal plea to the Foreign Minister to ensure Australia’s voice is heard in the matter relating to Mr Vardanyan and his colleagues’ imprisonments.
In his letter, the former Foreign Minister said: “This is a personal appeal for the Australian Government to call for the immediate release of the Armenian philanthropist, businessman and loyalist Ruben Vardanyan who, along with a number of colleagues, was imprisoned by Azerbaijan in September 2023 following its military action to take over the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (known to the Armenians as Artsakh) and remains in what seems to be essentially open-ended pre-trial custody.”
The letter details the close personal relationship between Evans and the Armenian philanthropist, Ruben Vardanyan, who worked together during Evans's tenure as a member of the international jury of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative’s Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.
Evans, who said Vardanayn moved to Artsakh to “assist the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh,” spoke highly of Vardanyan, stating he formed a favourable opinion of his “decency, integrity and genuine commitment to democratic principles”.
Armenian National Committee of Australia Executive Director Michael Kolokossian thanked Professor Gareth Evans AC KC for using his platform to support the authorities of Artsakh illegally imprisoned by Azerbaijan since September 2023.
Kolokossian said, “We remain hopeful that Australia will use its well-respected voice to advocate for the freedom of Armenians rotting in Azerbaijani prisons through bilateral and multilateral forums.”
