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The Moscow Times, Russia
Sept 3 2012
Armenia Furious After Azerbaijan Pardons Convicted Killer
03 September 2012
BUDAPEST - Armenia broke off diplomatic ties with Hungary after an
Azeri military officer sentenced to life in prison for killing an
Armenian officer was sent back to his homeland and, despite
assurances, immediately pardoned and freed.
Lieutenant Ramil Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the
Budapest City Court after he confessed to killing Lieutenant Gurgen
Markarian of Armenia while both were in Hungary for a 2004 NATO
language course.
In response to Safarov's release, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
said his country was "halting diplomatic relations and all official
ties with Hungary."
Protesters in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, threw tomatoes at the
building housing Hungary's honorary consulate and tore down the
Hungarian flag Friday, while on Saturday about 150 demonstrators set a
Hungarian flag ablaze.
While Armenians were livid over Safarov's release, he is considered a
hero by many in Azerbaijan for having killed an Armenian.
Hungary returned Safarov, 35, to Azerbaijan only after receiving
assurances from the Azeri 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, Azeri 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.
Moscow issued no public comment on the decision to free Safarov, but
Washington said it was "communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our
disappointment."
"This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional
tensions and promote reconciliation," National Security Council
spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement, adding that Hungary was
also being asked to explain its decision to send Safarov home.
Tensions are strong between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan that has been under the
control of Armenian troops and ethnic Armenian forces since 1994.
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.
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.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/armenia-furious-after-azerbaijan-pardons-convicted-killer/467478.html
Sept 3 2012
Armenia Furious After Azerbaijan Pardons Convicted Killer
03 September 2012
BUDAPEST - Armenia broke off diplomatic ties with Hungary after an
Azeri military officer sentenced to life in prison for killing an
Armenian officer was sent back to his homeland and, despite
assurances, immediately pardoned and freed.
Lieutenant Ramil Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the
Budapest City Court after he confessed to killing Lieutenant Gurgen
Markarian of Armenia while both were in Hungary for a 2004 NATO
language course.
In response to Safarov's release, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
said his country was "halting diplomatic relations and all official
ties with Hungary."
Protesters in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, threw tomatoes at the
building housing Hungary's honorary consulate and tore down the
Hungarian flag Friday, while on Saturday about 150 demonstrators set a
Hungarian flag ablaze.
While Armenians were livid over Safarov's release, he is considered a
hero by many in Azerbaijan for having killed an Armenian.
Hungary returned Safarov, 35, to Azerbaijan only after receiving
assurances from the Azeri 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, Azeri 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.
Moscow issued no public comment on the decision to free Safarov, but
Washington said it was "communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our
disappointment."
"This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional
tensions and promote reconciliation," National Security Council
spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement, adding that Hungary was
also being asked to explain its decision to send Safarov home.
Tensions are strong between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan that has been under the
control of Armenian troops and ethnic Armenian forces since 1994.
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.
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.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/armenia-furious-after-azerbaijan-pardons-convicted-killer/467478.html