Azerbaijan launches criminal cases against former Karabakh government chief

Azerbaijan has launched several criminal cases against Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of government of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Azerbaijani security service said on Thursday.

It said Vardanyan, who was arrested on Wednesday, was accused of illegally crossing the Azerbaijani border and financing terrorism, and he had been placed in pre-trial detention.