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YEREVAN TO SUE BAKU AT INTERNATIONAL COURT OVER PARDONING OF ARMENIAN OFFICER'S KILLER
Interfax
Sept 26 2012
Russia
Armenia will challenge in court the decision of Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev to pardon officer Ramil Safarov sentenced to life in jail for
killing an Armenian serviceman and extradited by Hungary.
Expert in international law Levon Gevorkian and Haik Makuchian,
who was nearly the second victim of Safarov, announced the plans at
a Wednesday press conference in Yerevan. The press conference was
dedicated to Gurgen Margarian, whose 34th birth anniversary was marked
on September 26.
The lawsuit format and the court are under consideration, they said. A
Hungarian court recognized Makuchian as an aggrieved party.
"The entire state machinery is involved in this case," Makuchian said.
Gevorkian said it was a violation of the right to life by the Azeri
state.
"We cannot hope that Ramil Safarov will be put in prison after the
case is heard at international courts. Most probably, there will be
moral and material amends and certain political steps," Gevorkian said.
Armenian and Azeri officers, among them Margarian and Safarov, attended
English language courses of the NATO Partnership for Peace program
in Budapest in February 2004. Safarov came to the unlocked room and
killed the Armenian officer in his sleep with an axe on the night of
February 19. He also tried to kill Makuchian, but his door was locked.
The Budapest Court sentenced Safarov to life in jail and deprived
him of the right to parole for 30 years on April 13, 2006. Yet he was
extradited to Azerbaijan on August 31, 2012. Safarov was immediately
pardoned by the Azeri president, his military rank was upgraded and he
received gifts - a home and eight years of back pay. Yerevan suspended
diplomatic relations with Budapest on the same day.
From: A. Papazian
Interfax
Sept 26 2012
Russia
Armenia will challenge in court the decision of Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev to pardon officer Ramil Safarov sentenced to life in jail for
killing an Armenian serviceman and extradited by Hungary.
Expert in international law Levon Gevorkian and Haik Makuchian,
who was nearly the second victim of Safarov, announced the plans at
a Wednesday press conference in Yerevan. The press conference was
dedicated to Gurgen Margarian, whose 34th birth anniversary was marked
on September 26.
The lawsuit format and the court are under consideration, they said. A
Hungarian court recognized Makuchian as an aggrieved party.
"The entire state machinery is involved in this case," Makuchian said.
Gevorkian said it was a violation of the right to life by the Azeri
state.
"We cannot hope that Ramil Safarov will be put in prison after the
case is heard at international courts. Most probably, there will be
moral and material amends and certain political steps," Gevorkian said.
Armenian and Azeri officers, among them Margarian and Safarov, attended
English language courses of the NATO Partnership for Peace program
in Budapest in February 2004. Safarov came to the unlocked room and
killed the Armenian officer in his sleep with an axe on the night of
February 19. He also tried to kill Makuchian, but his door was locked.
The Budapest Court sentenced Safarov to life in jail and deprived
him of the right to parole for 30 years on April 13, 2006. Yet he was
extradited to Azerbaijan on August 31, 2012. Safarov was immediately
pardoned by the Azeri president, his military rank was upgraded and he
received gifts - a home and eight years of back pay. Yerevan suspended
diplomatic relations with Budapest on the same day.
From: A. Papazian