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Human Rights Defender: Armenia Must Prevent Ramil Safarov'S Extradit

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  • Human Rights Defender: Armenia Must Prevent Ramil Safarov'S Extradit

    HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER: ARMENIA MUST PREVENT RAMIL SAFAROV'S EXTRADITION TO AZERBAIJAN BY ALL MEANS POSSIBLE

    arminfo
    Thursday, August 30, 15:04

    Armenia must prevent Ramil Safarov's extradition to Azerbaijan by
    all means possible. To recall, Safarov viciously killed a sleeping
    Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in February 2004.

    Larisa Alaverdyan, the first Ombudswoman of Armenia, Executive Officer
    of the Fund Against Legal Outrage, ex-parliamentarian from Heritage
    Party, made such statement in a press conference in Yerevan, Thursday.

    "Safarov's extradition is quite probable, as Hungary is experiencing
    negative political processes starting from transition from democratic
    to authoritarian government up to economic crisis. In such situations,
    countries often resort to the forms of economic assistance. Taking
    advantage of its possibilities, Baku traditionally uses corruption
    methods to 'redeem' Safarov," she said.

    Recently Armenian mass media cited Hungarian newspapers reporting
    that Azerbaijan is expected to buy Hungarian government bonds in the
    amount of 2-3 bln EUR. Analysts say that Baku may use that deal to
    achieve Safarov's extradition. In this light, 80 Armenian public and
    non-governmental organizations and public figures have united and
    addressed a statement to the Hungarian authorities urging them not
    to allow Safarov's extradition to Azerbaijan.

    Alaverdyan is sure that the Defense, Justice and Foreign Ministries
    of Armenia must immediately make official requests to the relevant
    structures in Hungary to verify reliability of the reports of Armenian
    and Hungarian mass media on the negotiations for Safarov's extradition.

    "If the extradition process is launched, the Armenian party will no
    longer be able to stop it. If extradited, Safarov will be set free as
    he enjoys glory in Azerbaijan and has become an example to follow,"
    Alaverdyan said.

    For her part, Nazeli Vardanyan, the lawyer representing Gurgen
    Margaryan's family in Budapest, said that Safarov fulfilled
    Azerbaijan's state order by killing Margaryan. She said that
    Azerbaijan even opened an Embassy in Budapest and representatives
    of the Azerbaijan and Turkish embassies in Hungary were present at
    all the trials. The Azerbaijani authorities were trying to soften
    Safarov's sentence by all means possible. The lawer said that there
    is no precedent of extradition of convicts for such heavy crime.

    Nevertheless, the Armenian public must be vigilant and not rely on
    lack of such practice.

    To recall, on February 19 2004, R. Safarov viciously axed sleeping G.
    Margaryan in Budapest. Both the officers were undergoing an English
    language course under the NATO PfP program. On April 13 2006 the First
    Instance Court of Budapest sentenced Safarov to life imprisonments
    without the right to pardon for 30 years. In February 2007 the Court
    of Appeal left the verdict unchanged. President of Armenia Robert
    Kocharyan decreed awarding Gurgen Margaryan with Gallantry Medal
    posthumously.

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