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Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 1 2012
U.S. President expresses concern on fact of Ramil Safarov's pardon
Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept 1 /Trend/
U.S. President Barack Obama expressed "deep concern" about the fact of
pardon of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, convicted earlier in
Hungary, the press service of the White House said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on Friday pardoning
a citizen of Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov, born in 1977, who was sentenced
by the decision dated April 13, 2006 of the Court of Budapest
(Hungary) to life imprisonment.
This order shall enter into force on the date of publication.
Ramil Safarov was born on August 25, 1977 in Jabrail region of
Azerbaijan. Safarov, 34, who participated in NATO exercises in 2004 in
Hungary, was charged with the murder of the Armenian officer Gurgen
Margaryan, who insulted the Azerbaijani flag. By the verdict of the
Budapest court, Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment without the
right of pardon during 30 years.
"Ramil Safarov, a native of the Jabrail region occupied by the
Armenians, is an IDP. He lost a lot of close friends, and these
tragedies took place before his eyes, ran into his childhood memories.
One can imagine the emotional state of a person who lived through all
these tragedies as a child, as a result of permanent provocations
against him by the Armenian officers, insults to the flag and the
people of Azerbaijan at NATO exercises in which he participated as an
officer of the Azerbaijani army," the representative of the
Presidential Administration said.
Alasgarov noted that Safarov's lawyers during the trial repeatedly
petitioned for violation of his right to defense. Thus, in the course
of the investigation, his testimony was taken in Russian, which he
knew not well, during the preliminary hearing the officer was not
provided with a lawyer, and the indictment was presented in the
Turkish language. The lawyers filed complaints and petitions regarding
other serious procedural violations as well.
Alasgarov said under the provisions of the European Convention on the
Transfer of Sentenced Persons, any country that is a party to the
agreement may apply amnesty or reduce sentences, in accordance with
its constitution or other legislation pardon extradited person.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are
currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
Sept 1 2012
U.S. President expresses concern on fact of Ramil Safarov's pardon
Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept 1 /Trend/
U.S. President Barack Obama expressed "deep concern" about the fact of
pardon of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, convicted earlier in
Hungary, the press service of the White House said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on Friday pardoning
a citizen of Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov, born in 1977, who was sentenced
by the decision dated April 13, 2006 of the Court of Budapest
(Hungary) to life imprisonment.
This order shall enter into force on the date of publication.
Ramil Safarov was born on August 25, 1977 in Jabrail region of
Azerbaijan. Safarov, 34, who participated in NATO exercises in 2004 in
Hungary, was charged with the murder of the Armenian officer Gurgen
Margaryan, who insulted the Azerbaijani flag. By the verdict of the
Budapest court, Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment without the
right of pardon during 30 years.
"Ramil Safarov, a native of the Jabrail region occupied by the
Armenians, is an IDP. He lost a lot of close friends, and these
tragedies took place before his eyes, ran into his childhood memories.
One can imagine the emotional state of a person who lived through all
these tragedies as a child, as a result of permanent provocations
against him by the Armenian officers, insults to the flag and the
people of Azerbaijan at NATO exercises in which he participated as an
officer of the Azerbaijani army," the representative of the
Presidential Administration said.
Alasgarov noted that Safarov's lawyers during the trial repeatedly
petitioned for violation of his right to defense. Thus, in the course
of the investigation, his testimony was taken in Russian, which he
knew not well, during the preliminary hearing the officer was not
provided with a lawyer, and the indictment was presented in the
Turkish language. The lawyers filed complaints and petitions regarding
other serious procedural violations as well.
Alasgarov said under the provisions of the European Convention on the
Transfer of Sentenced Persons, any country that is a party to the
agreement may apply amnesty or reduce sentences, in accordance with
its constitution or other legislation pardon extradited person.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are
currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.