The sham trial of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan continued on Thursday behind closed doors with prosecutors charging him will allegedly plotting what they called “Operation Nemesis 2.0,” and accusing him of planning the assassination of high-level Azerbaijani officials, the state-run Azerbaijani media reported.

Of course the charges refer to the eponymous operation spearheaded by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which sought to avenge the victims of the Armenian Genocide by targeting its perpetrators. The assassination of Talat Pasha by Soghomon Tehlirian was one of the aspects of the original Operation Nemesis.

The state-run Azerbaijani press, which reported details of the prosecution’s allegations, did not elaborate or provide evidence.

During Thursday’s hearing, Vardanyan also dismissed his state-appointed defense attorney Azer Maharramov for failing to represent his interests. Vardanyan has been denied the right to seek and be represented by his own counsel.

Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human Rights told News.am that Vardanyan’s state-appointed defense attorney did not provide him with any legal assistance, never visited him in the isolation cell, promoting him to not trust him.

She explained that the prosecution in the case had denied Vardanyan’s appeal to be represented by his own counsel. Sahakyan said that according to information she had received, the court granted Vardanyan’s request to fire his public defender.

“Vardanyan’s interests will be defended there by his private attorney, Avraam Berman, licensed in Azerbaijan. But he [i.e. Vardanyan] is deprived of the opportunity to meet with international [human rights] lawyer Jared Genser and receive his legal assistance, since the Azerbaijani prosecutor’s office had rejected Genser’s petition to visit Baku,” Sahakyan told News.am.

Sahakyan also said that charges brought against Vardanyan “are beyond the bounds of reason, so it is impossible to comment on them or provide counterarguments to them.”

Vardanyan is facing a separate trial in a Baku military court, while other former Artsakh leaders who were captured by Azerbaijani forces are being tried in another case. Vardanyan’s appeal to have him be tried with the others was rejected by the court.

Azerbaijan has also charged former Artsakh presidents Arkady Ghukasian, Bako Sahakian and Arayik Harutyunyan, fas well as Artsakh Parliament Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan, former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan, former Commander of the Artsakh Armed Forces Levon Mnatsakanyan and former Deputy Armed Forces Commander Davit Manukyan.

Trumped up charges have also been brought against Artsakh citizens Vasily Beglaryan, Erik Ghazaryan, Davit Alahverdyan, Gurgen Stepanyan, Levon Balayan, Madat Babayan, Garik Martirosyan, and Melikset Pashayan.