ArmInfo. After more than two weeks of incommunicado detention, Ruben Vardanyan, who has been held hostage in Baku for more than six months, was allowed to call his family for the first time after his loved ones drew international attention to his hunger strike, reads a statement by the family of political prisoner Ruben Vardanyan regarding his state of health.
"During the conversation, he mentioned that he had been in complete isolation all this time, he was not even allowed to read. As far as we know, he is only being measured for his blood pressure and nothing else, and we are increasingly afraid that his health is deteriorating. Before to end the conversation, he said: "I am now more convinced than ever that values and principles are more important than everything, even life itself."
We demand that the Azerbaijani authorities immediately allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit him. This is the only way to obtain objective information about the state of his health and provide him with all the necessary medical care during the hunger strike.
In addition, we reiterate Ruben's demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Armenian political prisoners by Azerbaijan.
We thank the world community, the media and everyone who writes and talks about Ruben these days. It was thanks to these efforts that his first telephone conversation with his family in two weeks took place," Vardanyan's family said in a statement.
