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AZERIS CONDEMN HUNGARIAN COURT'S HARSH RULING
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted April 17 2006
Baku, April 14, AssA-Irada
The Azerbaijani public has strongly condemned the Hungarian court's
harsh sentence issued on Thursday for the Azerbaijani officer charged
with murdering an Armenian serviceman during a NATO course in Budapest.
Ramil Safarov was sentenced to life in prison after a lengthy trial
that was deemed by many in Azerbaijan as biased. The defense plans
to appeal the case.
The Azeri Defense Ministry came out against the ruling. A spokesman
for the Ministry Ilgar Verdiyev termed the decision as "far from being
objective". He said that just like during the trial, all the expenses
to be incurred in the higher court would be assumed by the Ministry.
The Foreign Ministry declined to issue a statement concerning Safarov's
verdict. Its spokesman Tahir Taghizada said that since the proceedings
were a legal issue, the Ministry is not inclined to comment to avoid
escalating tension.
Taghizada said the Ministry will continue dealing with the issue and
further step up its efforts to appeal the case.
"We have been working closely with the Azeri embassy in Hungary with
regard to the trial," he added.
The hard-line Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) has launched a
serious of public actions in Baku and the countryside in protest at
the harsh verdict. At a rally on Friday, its chairman Akif Naghi and
two more protesters were detained.
"The Hungarian court issued an unjust verdict to our citizen
Ramil Safarov. Armenians bribed the court, and the Azeri public and
authorities should come out against this. We demand that this unfair
decision be altered, otherwise, our protests will continue," Naghi
said prior to the detention.
The chairwoman of the permanent parliamentary commission on human
rights Rabiyyat Aslanova condemned the verdict as well.
"It is very unfortunate that the court handed down such a ruling. But
this will not stop our activity. Certainly, we will take the case
to the court of appeal. I believe the public representatives should
express their attitude on the issue as well," the MP said.
Another parliament member, Malahat Hasanova, blamed the Azeri
legislative body and public organizations of inaction.
"The parliament and NGOs have failed to do anything to defend
Safarov," Hasanova told journalists. She said the Azeri-Hungarian
inter-parliamentary friendship group has taken no steps in this area
either. Women's organizations operating in the country were left out
of these efforts as well, said Hasanova.
The MP condemned some statements suggesting that Azerbaijan break up
its relations with Hungary.
"On the contrary, ties should be forged between the public in the two
countries, while MPs and NGO representatives be invited to Azerbaijan
soon," she said, suggesting that Hungarians be briefed on the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict during such visits.
Safarov's father has approached organizations dealing with his son's
defense.
"The life imprisonment sentence is a punishment handed down to the
Azeri public as a whole. We should not give way to the mistakes we
have made so far, as Armenians always capitalize on them," Sahib
Safarov said.
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted April 17 2006
Baku, April 14, AssA-Irada
The Azerbaijani public has strongly condemned the Hungarian court's
harsh sentence issued on Thursday for the Azerbaijani officer charged
with murdering an Armenian serviceman during a NATO course in Budapest.
Ramil Safarov was sentenced to life in prison after a lengthy trial
that was deemed by many in Azerbaijan as biased. The defense plans
to appeal the case.
The Azeri Defense Ministry came out against the ruling. A spokesman
for the Ministry Ilgar Verdiyev termed the decision as "far from being
objective". He said that just like during the trial, all the expenses
to be incurred in the higher court would be assumed by the Ministry.
The Foreign Ministry declined to issue a statement concerning Safarov's
verdict. Its spokesman Tahir Taghizada said that since the proceedings
were a legal issue, the Ministry is not inclined to comment to avoid
escalating tension.
Taghizada said the Ministry will continue dealing with the issue and
further step up its efforts to appeal the case.
"We have been working closely with the Azeri embassy in Hungary with
regard to the trial," he added.
The hard-line Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) has launched a
serious of public actions in Baku and the countryside in protest at
the harsh verdict. At a rally on Friday, its chairman Akif Naghi and
two more protesters were detained.
"The Hungarian court issued an unjust verdict to our citizen
Ramil Safarov. Armenians bribed the court, and the Azeri public and
authorities should come out against this. We demand that this unfair
decision be altered, otherwise, our protests will continue," Naghi
said prior to the detention.
The chairwoman of the permanent parliamentary commission on human
rights Rabiyyat Aslanova condemned the verdict as well.
"It is very unfortunate that the court handed down such a ruling. But
this will not stop our activity. Certainly, we will take the case
to the court of appeal. I believe the public representatives should
express their attitude on the issue as well," the MP said.
Another parliament member, Malahat Hasanova, blamed the Azeri
legislative body and public organizations of inaction.
"The parliament and NGOs have failed to do anything to defend
Safarov," Hasanova told journalists. She said the Azeri-Hungarian
inter-parliamentary friendship group has taken no steps in this area
either. Women's organizations operating in the country were left out
of these efforts as well, said Hasanova.
The MP condemned some statements suggesting that Azerbaijan break up
its relations with Hungary.
"On the contrary, ties should be forged between the public in the two
countries, while MPs and NGO representatives be invited to Azerbaijan
soon," she said, suggesting that Hungarians be briefed on the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict during such visits.
Safarov's father has approached organizations dealing with his son's
defense.
"The life imprisonment sentence is a punishment handed down to the
Azeri public as a whole. We should not give way to the mistakes we
have made so far, as Armenians always capitalize on them," Sahib
Safarov said.