Biography
In November 2020, security forces broke into the apartments of peaceful Muscovites with searches. Vardan Zakaryan was seriously injured during the raid. From a blow to the head with a butt, he received a head injury and was hospitalized.
Vardan Zakaryan was born in 1971 in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan. He is the eldest of three brothers. As a child, he was engaged in sambo. Vardan also liked to help his grandmother take care of the garden. Later, it helped him in his life—he worked as a florist for more than 12 years and had his own small flower business.
In 1991, when Vardan was already living in Russia, he was the first of his family to associate with Jehovah's Witnesses and became interested in Bible teachings. He began to treat the Bible in a special way when he read it in Armenian and became convinced that the name of God, Jehovah, occurs there more than 7000 times. Later, his mother joined him in the study of the Holy Scriptures.
In 2000, Vardan got married. The couple raised two children. At the time of the search, their daughter was studying at the university, and their son was in high school. Vardan is a tailor by profession, he has been working in an atelier for the last 30 years.
Vardan's relatives were shocked by the brutality of the security forces during the search. They wonder why the court considered him a dangerous criminal and sentenced him to 4 years in prison only because of his faith. While Vardan is in prison, his wife has to work for two to provide for the family.