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Statement of Armenian NGOs
On February 19, 2004 in Budapest, Hungary, where the courses were held
in the framework of the NATO program 'Partnership for Peace', there
was a horrific event, which flatly denied the essence and meaning of
the program. Late at night Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov
penetrated into the room of classmates and brutally hacked sleeping
Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan with beforehand purchased ax. This
unprecedented crime disturbed not only Armenia and Hungary, but also
the whole Europe.
The trial of Safarov lasted more than two years, during which the
Azerbaijani side was trying to discredit the memory of the Armenian
officer, pushing against him many accusations, and to achieve for
criminal possible lenient sentence. During the trial have been
convincingly refuted all the accusations against the deceased officer
and proved their inadequacy and artificiality. Judge Andrash Vaskuti
and the prosecution had perfectly conducted the whole process,
strictly adhering to the wording and spirit of the Hungarian and
European legislation. Ramil Safarov was sentenced to the maximum
penalty: life imprisonment without a right filing a petition for a
pardon during the first 30 years. All appeals from the Azerbaijani
side were rejected.
Already in custody, Safarov had conducted an attack towards the prison
security guard
, which was the
basis for initiating against him another criminal case and impose a
second sentence.
Azerbaijani side from the first day has unsuccessfully tried to
extradite Safarov. Representatives of state and public structures
afforded statements justifying heinous crime. Thus, the Azerbaijani
Ombudsman Suleymanova said that 'Safarov should be an example for
young people.' Ramil Safarov was declared his country's national
hero.
All the past 8 years, the Hungarian side has proven its commitment to
the norms of international law, rejecting any possibility of
extradition of criminal to his homeland. However, the Azerbaijani and
Turkish parties persist in their efforts to extradite Safarov. Thus,
the recent report proves the collection of signatures in Turkey, which
require proponents to reconsider the sentence, implementing
unreasonable and unacceptable historical parallels. Similar messages
appear regularly also in the Azerbaijani media.
We believe it is our duty to address the Hungarian public and
government agencies with an appeal to prevent the extradition of
Safarov to Azerbaijan, where it is certainly not expected further
punishment, but nothing more than freedom, honor and even greater
glorification. As evidence, we present only one sentence: a year ago
made by the head of the department of Political Analysis and
Information Support of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan
Elnur Aslanov said that 'valor of those like Ramil Safarov gave
Azerbaijani society and people a second wind.'
We have no doubts that in Hungary are perfectly aware of the fact that
the hatred towards Armenians and xenophobia raised to the rank of
state policy of Azerbaijan. This was recorded in the report of the
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance for the year of
2011. We would like to remind that the President of Azerbaijan, in one
of his recent speeches called Armenians as enemy number one for
Azerbaijan. We also would like to remind that during the trial in
Budapest the attorney of Safarov stated that 'killing an Armenian is
not a crime in Azerbaijan.'
Having said all it is even hard to imagine the consequences that may
result from extradition of Safarov to Azerbaijan. This is unacceptable
in the first place given the gravity of his crime and the attitude
towards that crime in Azerbaijan. But far more serious can be the
consequences in the context of relapse of the crime over the
world. For Azerbaijani youth, brought up to hate the Armenians and
glorify the killer, extradition will be a call to action in the
knowledge that the punishment will inevitably be soft, and the laurels
of hero killer of Armenians on this background will become too
attractive. In this case, the responsibility for the potential crimes
certainly will lie not only on Azerbaijan, but also on Hungary. It
should also be noted that the extradition against the frequent
violations of the ceasefire with Azerbaijan could spark a renewal of
bloody war.
We call upon the corresponding structures of friendly Hungary to think
about the inevitable consequences of such a step. Only in the country
of the crime, in the colony of strict regime Safarov must serve his
sentence, imposed on him by Hungarian court. This requires not only
the memory of Armenian young man brutally murdered, but the
obligations of Hungary, as the country, which has proven its
commitment to human rights norms, morality and humanity.
1. `Foundation Against Violation of Law' NGO
Mikayel Aramyan - President
2. Gyumri Development Fund
Artush Lazarian - Chairperson
3. `Khoran Ard' Intelectual Centre NGO
Armen Petrosyan - Executive Director
4. `Our Home Armenia'
Nikolai Babajanyan - Chairperson, Member of Armenian-Russian Union of NGOs
5. `Improve Our Village' NGO
Anahit Tovmasyan - President
6. `Trtu' Cultural NGO
Temik Khalapyan
7. Association 'For Sustainable Human Development'
Karine Danielyan - Chairperson
8. 'Foundation for Small and Medium Businesses'
Gagik Poghosyan - President
9. `Association of Foreign Investment and Cooperation'
Andranik Aleksanyan - Board President
10. Armenian Assembly of Azerbaijan
Grigory Ayvazyan - President
11. International Center for Human Development
Tevan Poghosyan - Executive Director
12. `Protection of Rights Without Borders' NGO
Siranush Sahakyan - President
13. Guarantee Center Of Civil Society NGO
Sergey Gabrielyan
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/country-lrahos27187.html
15:17:30 - 25/08/2012
On February 19, 2004 in Budapest, Hungary, where the courses were held
in the framework of the NATO program 'Partnership for Peace', there
was a horrific event, which flatly denied the essence and meaning of
the program. Late at night Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov
penetrated into the room of classmates and brutally hacked sleeping
Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan with beforehand purchased ax. This
unprecedented crime disturbed not only Armenia and Hungary, but also
the whole Europe.
The trial of Safarov lasted more than two years, during which the
Azerbaijani side was trying to discredit the memory of the Armenian
officer, pushing against him many accusations, and to achieve for
criminal possible lenient sentence. During the trial have been
convincingly refuted all the accusations against the deceased officer
and proved their inadequacy and artificiality. Judge Andrash Vaskuti
and the prosecution had perfectly conducted the whole process,
strictly adhering to the wording and spirit of the Hungarian and
European legislation. Ramil Safarov was sentenced to the maximum
penalty: life imprisonment without a right filing a petition for a
pardon during the first 30 years. All appeals from the Azerbaijani
side were rejected.
Already in custody, Safarov had conducted an attack towards the prison
security guard
, which was the
basis for initiating against him another criminal case and impose a
second sentence.
Azerbaijani side from the first day has unsuccessfully tried to
extradite Safarov. Representatives of state and public structures
afforded statements justifying heinous crime. Thus, the Azerbaijani
Ombudsman Suleymanova said that 'Safarov should be an example for
young people.' Ramil Safarov was declared his country's national
hero.
All the past 8 years, the Hungarian side has proven its commitment to
the norms of international law, rejecting any possibility of
extradition of criminal to his homeland. However, the Azerbaijani and
Turkish parties persist in their efforts to extradite Safarov. Thus,
the recent report proves the collection of signatures in Turkey, which
require proponents to reconsider the sentence, implementing
unreasonable and unacceptable historical parallels. Similar messages
appear regularly also in the Azerbaijani media.
We believe it is our duty to address the Hungarian public and
government agencies with an appeal to prevent the extradition of
Safarov to Azerbaijan, where it is certainly not expected further
punishment, but nothing more than freedom, honor and even greater
glorification. As evidence, we present only one sentence: a year ago
made by the head of the department of Political Analysis and
Information Support of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan
Elnur Aslanov said that 'valor of those like Ramil Safarov gave
Azerbaijani society and people a second wind.'
We have no doubts that in Hungary are perfectly aware of the fact that
the hatred towards Armenians and xenophobia raised to the rank of
state policy of Azerbaijan. This was recorded in the report of the
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance for the year of
2011. We would like to remind that the President of Azerbaijan, in one
of his recent speeches called Armenians as enemy number one for
Azerbaijan. We also would like to remind that during the trial in
Budapest the attorney of Safarov stated that 'killing an Armenian is
not a crime in Azerbaijan.'
Having said all it is even hard to imagine the consequences that may
result from extradition of Safarov to Azerbaijan. This is unacceptable
in the first place given the gravity of his crime and the attitude
towards that crime in Azerbaijan. But far more serious can be the
consequences in the context of relapse of the crime over the
world. For Azerbaijani youth, brought up to hate the Armenians and
glorify the killer, extradition will be a call to action in the
knowledge that the punishment will inevitably be soft, and the laurels
of hero killer of Armenians on this background will become too
attractive. In this case, the responsibility for the potential crimes
certainly will lie not only on Azerbaijan, but also on Hungary. It
should also be noted that the extradition against the frequent
violations of the ceasefire with Azerbaijan could spark a renewal of
bloody war.
We call upon the corresponding structures of friendly Hungary to think
about the inevitable consequences of such a step. Only in the country
of the crime, in the colony of strict regime Safarov must serve his
sentence, imposed on him by Hungarian court. This requires not only
the memory of Armenian young man brutally murdered, but the
obligations of Hungary, as the country, which has proven its
commitment to human rights norms, morality and humanity.
1. `Foundation Against Violation of Law' NGO
Mikayel Aramyan - President
2. Gyumri Development Fund
Artush Lazarian - Chairperson
3. `Khoran Ard' Intelectual Centre NGO
Armen Petrosyan - Executive Director
4. `Our Home Armenia'
Nikolai Babajanyan - Chairperson, Member of Armenian-Russian Union of NGOs
5. `Improve Our Village' NGO
Anahit Tovmasyan - President
6. `Trtu' Cultural NGO
Temik Khalapyan
7. Association 'For Sustainable Human Development'
Karine Danielyan - Chairperson
8. 'Foundation for Small and Medium Businesses'
Gagik Poghosyan - President
9. `Association of Foreign Investment and Cooperation'
Andranik Aleksanyan - Board President
10. Armenian Assembly of Azerbaijan
Grigory Ayvazyan - President
11. International Center for Human Development
Tevan Poghosyan - Executive Director
12. `Protection of Rights Without Borders' NGO
Siranush Sahakyan - President
13. Guarantee Center Of Civil Society NGO
Sergey Gabrielyan
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/country-lrahos27187.html
15:17:30 - 25/08/2012