The Armenian community of Belgium is strongly condemning the decision of Hungary’s government to extradite the murderer to Azerbaijan, where he was set free and proclaimed a national hero.
Referring to the 1983 Strasbourg Convention of the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, the government of Hungary handed Ramil Safarov on august 31 to Azerbaijan. At first sight this was a routine procedure and everything happened according to the international law, in spite of the fact that Armenia and the international community strongly condemned this extradition. The reason for that was immediate pardon and a hero’s welcome of the murderer upon his arrival in Baku. Moreover Safarov was encouraged for his mortal deed by career advancement, received money and an apartment. And all this was done for the murderer who about 8 years ago brutally killed Gurgen Margaryan with an axe just because he was Armenian.
The brutal murder, committed by lieutenant Safarov of the Azerbaijani army, took place in 2004, in Budapest. While attending the Nato Partnership for Peace programme in Budapest's military academy, Safarov entered the bedroom of the 25 year-old Armenian officer, Gurgen Margaryan, also attending the programme, and slaughtered him with an axe.
Hearing the case in 2006 the Hungarian court convicted Safarov "to life imprisonment on charges of premeditated murder with extreme cruelty" without possibility of appeal until 2036. One year later, a Hungarian court upheld the ruling following an appeal. Meanwhile in Azerbaijan he was raised to the rank of a hero, some representatives of the Azeri legislative power take part in the presidium where it was decided to proclaim Ramil Safarov ‘man of the year’. The human rights commissioner of Azerbaijan Elmira Suleymanova delivered another shocking statement that "Safarov must become an example of patriotism for the Azerbaijani youth." Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani government was spared no effort to return the “hero” back.
We are strongly convinced that when taking the decision the Hungarian government was very much aware of the hatred atmosphere in Azerbaijan against Armenians and that Safarov would be immediately freed. Even more, the Hungarian government should have been aware that such a suspicious agreement could hurt the delicate peace situation in that region.
The Armenian community of Belgium is strongly condemning the decision of Hungary’s government to extradite the murderer to Azerbaijan, where he was set free and proclaimed a national hero. The fact that Azerbaijan would release the murderer was no surprise to us as for the last decades we have been witnessing the continuous policy of their government which encourages violences against Armenians. We truly believe that after this disregard of morality and justice, Azerbaijan revealed its true face to the world. We expect a strong reaction as well from Hungary as the European Union and the international community, otherwise this can become a precedent.
