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Safarov extradition sanctioned murder of Armenians - union

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/157/photo/121157.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 20:31 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - The Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden commented on the pardon granted to the Armenian officer’s murderer by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

 

“We strongly condemn this distasteful act by the President of Azerbaijan, which not only clearly marks the regime's extremely hostile attitude towards Armenia and Armenians, but is an obvious mockery towards justice,” the Union said.

 

What Baku has done is nothing but sanction for the murder of Armenians. Justice also seems to have completely collapsed in Hungary, which it has disregarded its own laws,” it said.

 

“By pardoning Safarov, the regime in Azerbaijan has brought its hatred to new heights while pretending to be resolving the Nagorno Karabakh through peaceful means,” the Union said.

 

 

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Safarov extradition: how Azerbaijan deceived Hungary

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/154/photo/121154.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 20:19 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Hungary’s Ministry of Public Administration and Justice has commented on the extradition of Armenian officer’s murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan.

 

According to the ministry, Baku assured Budapest that “informed the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of Hungary that Ramil Safarov’s sentence will not be converted but will immediately be continued to be enforced, according to the Hungarian judgment.”

 

When the deceit surfaced it was already too late.

 

In response to PanARMENIAN.Net rsquo;s inquiry, the ministry cited the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, which says that “a person sentenced in the territory of a Party may be transferred to the territory of another Party, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, in order to serve the sentence imposed on him.”

 

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan, under the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan the act for which the sentence was imposed constitutes a criminal offence that may be punished by life imprisonment.

 

Persons sentenced to life imprisonment may, at the earliest, be conditionally released after serving a period of twenty-five years.

 

However, Safarov was granted a presidential pardon almost immediately after his arrival in Azerbaijan.

 

 

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Armenian parliament speaker waives visit to Hungary

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/149/photo/121149.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 19:30 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamyan has waived his visit to Hungary.

 

According to the parliament’s press office, the decision was taken following the extradition of Armenian officer’s assassin Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan.

 

Lieutenant of the Armenian armed forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by lieutenant Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace program.

 

On April 13, 2006, Budapest District Court sentenced Safarov to life in prison for murdering Margaryan. On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the Azerbaijani military officer's appeal against the verdict, precluding possibility of pardon for the initial 30 years.

 

However, Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was granted a presidential pardon almost immediately after his arrival.

 

 

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Armenian MP says Azeri assassin will be ranked as national hero

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/137/photo/121137.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 18:52 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Prosperous Armenia parliamentary group member Naira Zohrabyan is confident that after a presidential pardon Armenian officer’s killer Ramil Safarov will be officially ranked as national hero of Azerbaijan.

 

“Azerbaijan spared no effort for Safarov’s extradition and it was quite clear that he would be set free upon arrival. I don’t doubt that the killer will soon get the rank of a national hero,” Zohrabyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

 

She reminded of the statement by Azerbaijan’s human rights defender Elmira Suleymanova, who said that “Safarov should be an example for patriotic youth.”

 

“The problem is not in Azerbaijan, where one who kills as Armenian is treated like a hero. The problem is that the Council of Europe accepted a country for which murder is a feat,” the MP said.

 

 

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Hungarian MFA says it bears no responsibility for Safarov extradition

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/128/photo/121128.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 18:08 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - The Hungarian Foreign Ministry says it bears no responsibility for the extradition of Azeri assassin Ramil Safarov.

 

In response to PanARMENIAN.Net rsquo;s inquiry, the MFA advised the agency to address the Ministry of Justice, which, however, has not answered phone calls for the past several hours.

 

Lieutenant of the Armenian armed forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by lieutenant Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace program.

 

On April 13, 2006, Budapest District Court sentenced Safarov to life in prison for murdering Margaryan. On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the Azerbaijani military officer's appeal against the verdict, precluding possibility of pardon for the initial 30 years.

 

However, Safarov was extradited to Azerbbaijan, where he was granted a presidential pardon almost immediately after his arrival.

 

 

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Azerbaijani President had no legal right to pardon Safarov – expert

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/130/photo/121130.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 17:59 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not possess any legal right to pardon the Armenian officer’s murderer Ramil Safarov, an Azeri expert says.

 

According to professor Khanlar Alikperov, whose comments appeared on Contact.az website, in compliance with the article 82.3 of Azerbaijan’s criminal code, life sentence can be replaced by a 25-year prison term only.

 

“Thus, President Aliyev did not have the right to pardon a person who had been sentenced to life. The best what he could do for the convict is to cut the service term to 25 years,” Alikperov says.

 

 

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Vice-speaker: Safarov amnesty proves Azeri hostility to Armenians

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/100/photo/121100.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 16:33 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - National Assembly vice-speaker commented on reports about extradition of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan’s assassin Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan.

 

“Hungarian authorities’ step to extradite Azeri criminal Ramil Safarov sparks minimum bewilderment and indignation. As to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s granting amnesty to him, it reaffirms Azeri hostility to Armenians,” Eduard Sharmazanov said.

 

Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani participant, lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace program.

 

On April 13, 2006, Budapest District Court sentenced Safarov to life in prison for murdering Margaryan. On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the Azerbaijani military officer's appeal against the verdict, precluding possibility of pardon for the initial 30 years.

 

By a decree of then-President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, officer Margaryan was awarded with a posthumous Medal for Courage on February 19, 2005.

 

 

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Hungary provides no info on Safarov’s alleged extradition to Azerbaijan

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/121/103/photo/121103.jpgAugust 31, 2012 - 16:15 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Hungarian state institutions refrain from commenting on the alleged extradition of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan’s assassin Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan.

 

Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by lieutenant Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace program.

 

On April 13, 2006, Budapest District Court sentenced Safarov to life in prison for murdering Margaryan. On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the Azerbaijani military officer's appeal against the verdict, precluding possibility of pardon for the initial 30 years.

 

According to Azerbaijani media outlets, “Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree to grant Ramil Safarov amnesty.”

 

A PanARMENIAN.Net reporter tried to clarify the information from Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Justice, all the attempts ending with being requested to file a note by email, with no reply received yet.

 

 

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Մարդասպան Սաֆարովից փրկված Հայկ Մակուչյանը մտադիր է պատասխանատվության ենթարկել Հունգարիային

 

 

Օգոստոս 31, 2012 | 23:02

Ռամիլ Սաֆարովի գործողություններից տուժած մեկ այլ հայ սպա Հայկ Մակուչյանը մտադիր է դիմել դատարան Հունգարիային իրավական պատասխանատվության ենթարկելու համար։ Այս մասին NEWS.am-ի թղթակցի հետ զրույցում ասաց Մակուչյանը՝ նշելով, որ այժմ խորհրդատվություն է անցկացնում իրավաբանների հետ, որպեսզի ճիշտ ձեւակերպի իր իրավական քայլերը։ «Հունգարիայի քայլը աններելի եմ համարում։ Եվրոպական ընտանիքի անդամ պետությունը իրավունք չուներ նման քայլ կատարելու։ Հունգարիան բազմիցս զգուշացվել է, որ Ադրբեջանում Սաֆարովը մարդասպան չի համարվում, նա այնտեղ հերոսացվում է»,- ասաց պարզապես երջանիկ պատահականությամբ Սաֆարովի զոհը չդարձած հայ սպան։

 

Ըստ նրա՝ ինքը, որպես տուժող կողմ մտադիր է միջազգային ատյաններում պատասխանատվության ենթարկել Հունգարիային անպատասխանատու քայլի համար։ «Ես անպայման միջոցների դիմելու եմ, պարզապես այժմ իրավական հիմքերն եմ ուսումնասիրում»,- նշեց Մակուչյանը։

 

Հիշեցնենք, որ 2004թ. փետրվարի 19-ին Հայաստանի Զինված ուժերի սպա Գուրգեն Մարգարյանը, ով գործուղման էր ուղարկվել Բուդապեշտ ՆԱՏՕ-ի «Գործընկերություն հանուն խաղաղության» ծրագրով անգլերենի դասընթաց անցնելու, քնած ժամանակ դաժանաբար սպանվել էր Ռամիլ Սաֆարովի կողմից: Հայկ Մակուչյանը եւս մասնակից է եղել նույն ծրագրին։ Գուրգենին կացնահարած ադրբեջանցի Սաֆարովը պատրաստվել է սպանել նաեւ Հայկին, սակայն փորձը կանխվել է լիտվացի սպայի օգնությամբ։

 

Դատվարության ժամանակ Հայկ Մակուչյանը ճանաչվել է, որպես տուժող կողմ, ինչը իրավական հիմք կարող է հանդիսանալ նրա իրավունքները խախտողին, այս դեպքում հնարավոր է Հունգարիային, պատասխանատվության ենթարկելու համար, քանի որ Հունգարիայի մեղքով ազատ է արձակվել մարդասպան Ռամիլ Սաֆարովը։

 

NEWS.am-ն ավելի վաղ հաղորդել էր, որ Ադրբեջանի նախագահ Իլհամ Ալիեւը իր հրամանագրով ներում է շնորհել 2004թ. Բուդապեշտում հայ սպա Գուրգեն Մարգարյանին կացնահարած Ռամիլ Սաֆարովին, վերջինիս Հունգարիայից Ադրբեջան տեղափոխվելուց անմիջապես հետո։

 

Սաֆարովին մեղադրանք էր առաջադրվել Հունգարիայի Քր.օր.-ի 166.2 (Սպանություն ծանրացուցիչ հանգամանքներում) հոդվածով: Սաֆարովը 2006թ. ապրիլի 13-ին ցմահ ազատազրկման էր դատապարտվել` առանց 30 տարի ներման իրավունք: Հունգարիայի Վերաքննիչ դատարանը 2007թ. փետրվարի 22-ին անփոփոխ էր թողել դատավճիռը:

 

Օգոստոսի 31-ին Հայաստանի նախագահ Սերժ Սարգսյանը հայտարել է Հունգարիայի հետ դիվանագիտական կապերի խզման մասին։

 

 

 

 

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Any nation who prides itself by proclaiming a cold blooded killer as national hero, doesn't deserve to be called a nation. A human being can't get any lower than this monster who killed a sleeping person and his president the human waste that he is very happy and honoured by his cowardly action.
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The Irish Times - Saturday, September 1, 2012

Armenia severs ties with Hungary over axe killer's extradition

 

 

DANIEL McLAUGHLIN

 

AN AZERI soldier who killed an Armenian army officer with an axe in Budapest has received a pardon after being allowed to return home, prompting a furious Armenia to sever ties with Hungary.

 

Ramil Safarov (35) was pardoned by Azeri president Ilham Aliyev following his transfer from jail in Hungary to Azerbaijan, and received something approaching a hero’s welcome in Baku.

 

Safarov attacked Armenian soldier Gurgen Markarian in his bed when both were attending a course under Nato’s Partnership for Peace programme in Hungary in 2004, killing him with several axe blows to the head and neck.

 

Safarov said he had murdered Mr Markarian because he and another Armenian soldier had been laughing at him, and that he wanted revenge for Azeris killed by Armenians during the war between the ex-Soviet states over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

Tens of thousands of people were killed and about one million displaced during the 1988-94 war over the mostly ethnic-Armenian region that is inside Azerbaijan’s official borders.

 

Armenian government forces helped Nagorno-Karabakhs’s separatist rebels drive the Azeri army out of the region and several other adjacent districts belonging to Azerbaijan. Baku and Yerevan are still technically at war over the region, and their soldiers regularly shoot at and kill each other across a tense ceasefire line. Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh claim Azerbaijan is prepared to use force to reclaim the territory, and vow to repel any such attempt.

 

“I am glad to be back with the Azeri people,” Safarov said yesterday. “It’s as if I am born again. I never lost hope of returning to my motherland and believed that the time would come when the supreme commander would resolve this question.”

 

Mubariz Gurbanli, a leading member of the ruling New Azerbaijan party, said: “Safarov’s moral superiority was apparent even when he was in prison. The Armenian’s insults towards our people, touching upon our national feelings, forced him to take this step,” Mr Gurbanli said of the murder.

 

Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan said Hungary had made “a grave mistake”.

 

“Today we are suspending diplomatic relations and all official ties with Hungary.”

 

It is not clear whether the developments have any link with Azerbaijan’s reported interest in lending several billion euro to Budapest’s cash-strapped government through a special bond issue

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Houston Chronicle

 

 

Azerbaijan pardons, frees convicted killer

 

Friday, August 31, 2012 | Updated: Friday, August 31, 2012 4:47pm

 

 

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Armenia broke off diplomatic ties with Hungary after an Azerbaijani military officer sentenced to life in prison here for killing an Armenian officer was sent back to his homeland on Friday and, despite assurances, immediately pardoned and freed.

 

Lt. Ramil Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the Budapest City Court after he confessed to killing Lt. Gurgen Markarian of Armenia while both were in Hungary for a 2004 NATO language course. Azerbaijan and Armenia are ex-Soviet neighbors who have been locked in a long-standing conflict over the mountainous territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

In response to Safarov's release, Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said his country was cutting diplomatic ties with Hungary, while Hungarian state news agency MTI reported that protesters in the Armenian capital of Yerevan threw tomatoes at the building housing Hungary's honorary consulate and the tore down the Hungarian flag.

 

Sarkisian said Armenia was "halting diplomatic relations and all official ties with Hungary."

 

The White House also criticized the decision to free Safarov.

 

"President Obama is deeply concerned by today's announcement that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his return from Hungary," said a statement from National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor. "We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment about the decision to pardon Safarov. This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote reconciliation."

 

Vietor added that Hungary was also being asked to explain its decision to send Safarov home.

 

While Armenians were livid over Safarov's release, he is considered a hero by many in Azerbaijan for having killed an Armenian.

 

Hungary returned the 35-year-old Safarov to Azerbaijan only after receiving assurances from the Azerbaijani Justice Ministry that Safarov's sentence, which included the possibility of parole after 25 years, would be enforced.

 

"The Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan has further informed the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of Hungary that Ramil Sahib Safarov's sentence will not be modified but will immediately continue to be enforced, based on the Hungarian judgment," the Hungarian ministry said in a statement issued before the news of Safarov's release was known.

 

The ministry said it based its decision on the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.

 

In a brief statement posted in English on his website, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev decreed Friday that Safarov "should be freed from the term of his punishment."

 

Hungary's Justice Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Safarov's release.

 

Hungary, which depends on Russia for most of its energy imports, has been seeking to expand its economic relations with oil-rich Azerbaijan.

 

Laszlo Borbely, the deputy director of Hungary's Government Debt Management Agency last week told daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet that talks between the two countries about a possible purchase by Azerbaijan of up to 3 billion euros ($3.77 billion) in Hungarian bonds were only at an "exploratory phase" for now.

 

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan, but has remained under the control of Armenian troops and ethnic Armenian forces since the end of a six-year separatist war in 1994. Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict have brought no result, and shootings on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border have been common.

 

During his trial in Budapest, Safarov claimed that the conflict was at the root of his actions and that he used an ax to kill Markarian while the victim was sleeping in a dormitory room after the Armenian repeatedly provoked and ridiculed him.

 

"My conscience was clouded as a result of the insults and humiliating and provoking behavior, and I lost all control," Safarov told the court in April 2006.

 

Armenian-backed forces drove Azerbaijan's army out of the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s. A 1994 cease-fire ended the six-year war that killed 30,000 people and left about 1 million homeless and the enclave is now under the control of ethnic Armenians.

 

Safarov's lawyers said that his parents and relatives were exiled from Nagorno-Karabakh during the war and that two of his relatives were killed by ethnic Armenian separatists.

 

___

 

Aida Sultanova in Baku, Azerbaijan, contributed to this report.

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CONGRESSMAN BERMAN CRITICIZES EXTRADITION AND RELEASE OF RAMIL SAFAROV

 

ARMENPRESS

1 September, 2012

YEREVAN

 

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: US congressman Howard Berman issued

a statement on occasion of extradition and release of blood-mad Ramil

Safarov. Armenpress reports that in the statement is particularly

mentioned: "Hungary's release of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov,

the convicted murderer of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan is a gross

miscarriage of justice. That Safarov in a premeditated fashion killed

Margaryan at a NATO Partnership for Peace event underscores the cynical

brutality of his act. For the Hungarian Government to have demonstrated

leniency in this matter is of grave concern.The Hungarian government

owes the Magaryan family, the Armenian nation, all its NATO partners,

and all participants in Partnership for Peace a sincere explanation

and a profound apology for its inexplicable act. The Azerbaijani

government's decision to free Safarov is contemptible and a serious

blow to hopes for Armenian-Azerbaijani peace."

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ARMENIAN HACKERS ATTACKED PRESIDNET.AZ

 

ARMENPRESS

SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

YEREVAN

 

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The official website of Azerbaijani

President Ilham Aliyev President.az does not operate.

 

Armenpress was informed from expert on informational security issues

Samvel Martirosyan that the website has been attacked Armenian Cyber

Army hacker group.

 

"The hacker group added an attachment on the official website of

Azerbaijani President with the picture of Gurgen Margaryan. The

reason of the attack was the release by Azerbaijani authorities of

Ramil Safarov who had murdered with cruelty Armenian officer Gurgen

Margaryan" he said.

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OBAMA DEEPLY CONCERNED BY SAFAROV RELEASE

 

armradio.am

01.09.2012 10:42

 

"President Obama is deeply concerned by the announcement that the

President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his

return from Hungary," NSC Spokesman Tommy Vietor declared.

 

"Safarov confessed to the murder of Armenian Army officer Gurgen

Margaryan in Budapest in 2004, and was serving a life sentence in

Hungary for this brutal crime. We are communicating to Azerbaijani

authorities our disappointment about the decision to pardon Safarov,"

he said.

 

"This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions

and promote reconciliation. The United States is also requesting an

explanation from Hungary regarding its decision to transfer Safarov

to Azerbaijan, Tommy Vietor stated.

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AZERBAIJAN: FREEDOM AND FANFARE FOR KILLER OF ARMENIAN ARMY OFFICER

 

EurasiaNet.org

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65850

Aug 31 2012

NY

 

Has justice been served when the person who "practically" severs the

head of a sleeping man with an axe can return home to a hero's welcome?

That's the question that comes to mind with the return to Azerbaijan

of Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, who was serving a life sentence in

Hungary for the brutal murder of 25-year-old Armenian Lieutenant

Gurgen Margarian at a 2004 NATO training in Budapest.

 

Extradited from Hungary, Lt. Safarov is not only walking freely,

but also taking bows in front of the cameras.

 

Upon arrival in Baku, he spoke of his sufferings "in a prison in

a foreign land" and thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for

pardoning him.

 

Armenia may be a bitter enemy and all for Azerbaijan, but the reaction

to this murder, an act worthy of the Hostel horror film series, shows

just how deeply seeded the raging propaganda against Armenia (and,

in turn, Armenia's angry denunciations of Azerbaijan) has become

in the minds of many. The gruesome crimes committed by Armenians

against Azerbaijanis during the Nagorno-Karabakh war are cited as a

justification of sorts for both Safarov's acts and his release.

 

Not all Azerbaijanis agree that Safarov ranks as a national hero,

but that detail, no doubt, will be lost on Yerevan as it debates a

response to Safarov's release. The topic reportedly was on the agenda

of an August 31 meeting of the National Security Council convened by

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

 

Meanwhile, as for 35--year-old Safarov, he's "ready to serve my

country, my people again."

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OBAMA 'CONCERNED' OVER AZERBAIJAN KILLER PARDON

 

Agence France Presse

Aug 31 2012

 

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is "deeply concerned" over

Azerbaijan's pardon of a soldier who axed an Armenian to death,

the White House said Friday.

 

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued an order that killer Ramil

Safarov "should be freed from the term of his punishment" directly

after he arrived earlier on a plane from Budapest, where he had been

serving a life sentence for the 2004 murder.

 

"President Obama is deeply concerned by today's announcement that the

president of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his return

from Hungary," said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor.

 

"We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment

about the decision to pardon Safarov," Vietor added in a statement.

 

"This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions

and promote reconciliation. The United States is also requesting an

explanation from Hungary regarding its decision to transfer Safarov

to Azerbaijan."

 

Armenia severed diplomatic links with Hungary after Budapest extradited

the serviceman to Baku and immediately pardoned him there.

 

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said he had put his troops on

"high alert" after the incident, which has inflamed tensions between

the enemies who fought a war over the disputed region of Nagorny

Karabakh in the 1990s.

 

Safarov hacked Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian to death with an

axe at a military academy in Budapest, where the servicemen from the

ex-Soviet neighbor states were attending English-language courses

organised by NATO.

 

Safarov's lawyers claimed in court that he was traumatized because

some of his relatives were killed during the war with Armenian forces,

and alleged that Margarian had insulted his country.

 

Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan

in the war that left some 30,000 people dead, and despite years of

negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides have not signed

a final peace deal.

 

Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the region by force if peace

talks do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed massive retaliation

against any military action.

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ARMENIA BREAKS TIES WITH HUNGARY OVER CLEMENCY FOR MURDERER

 

Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/armenia-azerbaijan-hungary-murder-087/

Aug 31 2012

 

Armenia has cut diplomatic ties with Hungary, after Budapest allowed

an Azerbaijani who had been convicted of killing a visiting Armenian

citizen to return to his home country, where he was pardoned.

 

­"I officially declare that starting today we cease diplomatic

relations and all official ties with Hungary," said Armenian President

Serzh Sargsyan at a meeting with UN ambassadors.

 

The announcement comes as Budapest permitted Azerbaijani Ramil Safarov

return to Azerbaijan after he was been convicted of murdering and

Armenian in Budapest.

 

In 2004, Safarov went to Budapest to study English within NATO's

Partnership for Peace program, and while there murdered Armenian

Gurgen Margaryan, who was attending the same course.

 

Safarov killed Margaryan with an ax as he slept.

 

In his initial testimony, Safarov explained that in 1993, when Armenia

occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, the majority ethnic Armenian region of

Azerbaijan where he was born, members of his family were killed in

the resulting military conflict. The implication was that Safarov

killed Margaryan to avenge his relatives.

 

Later, however, the murderer changed his words, claiming

miscommunication between him and his interpreters. In a later,

revised version of his testimony, Safarov insisted that Margaryan

had insulted Azerbaijan's national flag.

 

The trial was held in Budapest in 2006, and an Hungarian court

sentenced Safarov to life in prison without the right to appeal for

pardon for 30 years.

 

Accompanied by a police official (L) and an interpretor ®,

Azerbaijani army officier Lieutenant Ramil Safarov © listens to

the verdict.(AFP Photo / Attila Kisbenedek)

 

On Friday, however, in accordance with the Strasbourg Convention

on the transfer of sentenced persons, Safarov was extradited to his

home country.

 

On the same day, he was pardoned by Azerbaijani president Ilham

Aliyev. This was despite Baku's assurances that the convict would

not be released earlier than 2037.

 

Azerbaijani television showed Safarov smiling as he walked through a

crowd of his supporters, his shoulders covered with the Azerbaijani

flag, and a bouquet of roses in his hands.

 

President Sargsyan explicitly accused Hungarian authorities of

collusion with Azerbaijani authorities.

 

"The Hungarian authorities have to understand that they made a big

mistake. They, actually, made a deal with Azerbaijani authorities,"

he said.

 

A demonstration took place in front of the Hungarian Consulate in

Yerevan following the news. Demonstrators held banners reading "Shame

on Hungary" and "We demand justice."

 

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has seriously complicated relations

between the neighboring Caucasus states. First as Soviet republics and

then as independent nations, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought over the

area from 1988 till 1994. Despite ongoing discussions between the two

countries, with Russia acting as an active mediator, they still have

not reached a formal solution to the dispute. Currently the territory

is ruled by the local government, which receives backing from Yerevan.

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AZERBAIJAN HAS CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MURDER OF ARMENIAN OFFICER, LAWYER THINKS

 

Mediamax

Aug 31 2012

Armenia

 

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenia can hold Azerbaijan accountable for the

murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan,

who represents the interests of Gurgen Margaryan's family in Budapest,

told Mediamax's correspondent commenting on the reports that the

murderer of the Armenian officer Ramil Safarov was pardoned and

released.

 

"Armenia can bring a lawsuit against Azerbaijan based on international

conventions. This country has actually claimed responsibility for

the murder of the Armenian officer," said Nazeli Vardanyan.

 

"During all these years Azerbaijan has used all the resources for the

extradition of Ramil Safarov. The Armenian Foreign Ministry assured

us that relevant work was underway in order to prevent the extradition

of Ramil Safarov to motherland,' the lawyer said.

 

Ramil Safarov, who was serving a life-time imprisonment in Hungary for

the brutal murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, has returned

to Azerbaijan and was pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.

 

On February 19, 2004, Ramil Safarov brutally killed 26-year-old

Armenian officer, Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, who was on training

at the University of the National Defense of Hungary within NATO's

"Partnership for Peace" program. At 5:00 early in the morning Ramil

Safarov axed Gurgen Margaryan who was asleep.

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ARMENIANS TO STAGE PROTEST AT HUNGARIAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON

 

PanARMENIAN.Net

August 31, 2012 - 21:22 AMT

 

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenians are gathering in front of the Hungarian

embassy in Washington to protest extradition of Armenian officer's

murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan.

 

"The Hungarian government has released a vicious murderer Ramil

Safarov, an Azerbaijani military officer sentenced to life in prison

in Hungary for hacking to death an Armenian officer during a 2004

NATO program. Safarov was sent back to his homeland and, despite

assurances, immediately pardoned and freed by Ilham Aliyev," the

organizers' statement says.

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SAFAROV'S AT HOME, WHERE IS ARMENIA?

HAKOB BADALYAN

 

Story from Lragir.am News:

http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/comments27256.html

Published: 17:20:19 - 31/08/2012

 

Hungary has extradited murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan and

Azerbaijan has granted him pardon. Perhaps everyone remembers well,

including the relevant Hungarian government agencies, that Safarov

hacked to death the Armenian army officer Gurgen Margaryan and was

sentenced for life by the Hungarian court.

 

Now Safarov is at large. Soon he will be covered with heroic shroud.

 

Now one wonders where Armenia is. Where is the state, the government

agencies, the foreign ministry, the national security service, the

ministry of defense, the national security council, the embassy,

and all the others? Where was Armenia when Hungary and Azerbaijan

agreed on Safarov's extradition?

 

The human rights activist Larissa Alaverdyan and lawyer Nazeli

Vardanyan alarmed the issue on the eve. It turns out to be too

late though.

 

Meanwhile, the Republic of Armenia should have alarmed everyone a

long time ago. The state should have been aware of this.

 

The state should have all the possible means of learning about it,

as well as the abilities and skills required for that. Apart from

looking for business partners for ambassadors and other officials

our embassies should sometimes deal with national issues, gather

information about developments in those countries, especially when

they concern Armenia and the citizens of Armenia as well.

 

Apart from counting the profit of his brandy company the head of the

National Security Council should also follow developments relating

to Armenia, get information and bring up the issue through the council.

 

Apart from deporting Assyrian children who fled from the war in Syria

from the air gates of Armenia and controlling opposition's offices

and dens of dissidence the National Security Service should handle

developments relating to Armenia that take place outside Armenia.

 

The Ministry of Defense should also be aware of Safarov's release

instead of meaningless social activities of patriotic nature.

 

It is not hard to imagine what the situation would be had say an

Israeli military officer been killed. Perhaps the murderer would

not even survive till his trial and conviction, let alone travel to

Azerbaijan. He would be done in to show that it is dangerous to play

with the life of Israeli soldiers.

 

Ramil Safarov should have bidden farewell to life before he would

appear before court or in jail or on the way to Azerbaijan. That

would be a matter of dignity for the Republic of Armenia, as well as

a specific political issue - the issue of the political importance

of Armenia. So far these issues get a miserable response.

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HUNGARIAN SCIENTIST FEELS ASHAMED

 

Story from Lragir.am News:

http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/society27257.html

Published: 17:31:17 - 31/08/2012

 

Hungarian Armenologist Benedek Zsigmond who regularly visits Armenia

posted on his wall his opinion on Hungary's decision to extradite

Ramil Safarov, the murderer of the Armenian military officer Gurgen

Margaryan. He wrote that he is ashamed of his Hungarian origin. He

apologized to all the Armenians on the blackest day of Hungary's

modern history.

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