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Qatar News Agency
September 1, 2012 Saturday 1:03 PM EST
Armenia Severs Diplomatic Ties with Hungary Over Clemency Row
Yerevan, September 01 (QNA) - Armenia has cut diplomatic ties with
Hungary after Budapest allowed an Azerbaijani soldier who was
convicted of killing an Armenian officer to return to his home
country, according to news reports.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, during a meeting with UN
ambassadors, said, "I officially declare that starting today, we cease
diplomatic relations and all official ties with Hungary."
In a short statement, the president said he decreed Friday that
Safarov "Should be freed from the term of his punishment," according
to media reports.
Azerbaijani Lieutenant Ramil Safarov was warmly welcomed in the
capital, Baku, after arriving from Hungary, where he was imprisoned
for murder. He was immediately pardoned and freed by his country's
president
Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the Budapest City Court
after he confessed to hacking to death Lieutenant Gurgen Markarian of
Armenia in his sleep.
The incident happened while both were in Hungary for a 2004 language
course of the NATO military alliance. Yet, as soon as Safarov arrived
at the Baku airport, he received an official pardon from Azerbaijan's
President Ilham Aliyev.
In his initial testimony, Safarov explained that during the 1993
Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, the majority ethnic Armenian
region of Azerbaijan where he was born, members of his family were
killed in the resulting military conflict. Safarov implied that he
killed Margaryan to avenge his relatives.
He later changed his testimony, claiming his initial statement was the
result of a miscommunication between he and his interpreters. In a
revised version of his testimony, Safarov claimed that Margaryan had
insulted Azerbaijan's national flag.
The trial was held in Budapest in 2006; a Hungarian court sentenced
Safarov to life in prison, and he could not appeal for pardon for 30
years. (QNA)
SSS,MD
September 1, 2012 Saturday 1:03 PM EST
Armenia Severs Diplomatic Ties with Hungary Over Clemency Row
Yerevan, September 01 (QNA) - Armenia has cut diplomatic ties with
Hungary after Budapest allowed an Azerbaijani soldier who was
convicted of killing an Armenian officer to return to his home
country, according to news reports.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, during a meeting with UN
ambassadors, said, "I officially declare that starting today, we cease
diplomatic relations and all official ties with Hungary."
In a short statement, the president said he decreed Friday that
Safarov "Should be freed from the term of his punishment," according
to media reports.
Azerbaijani Lieutenant Ramil Safarov was warmly welcomed in the
capital, Baku, after arriving from Hungary, where he was imprisoned
for murder. He was immediately pardoned and freed by his country's
president
Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the Budapest City Court
after he confessed to hacking to death Lieutenant Gurgen Markarian of
Armenia in his sleep.
The incident happened while both were in Hungary for a 2004 language
course of the NATO military alliance. Yet, as soon as Safarov arrived
at the Baku airport, he received an official pardon from Azerbaijan's
President Ilham Aliyev.
In his initial testimony, Safarov explained that during the 1993
Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, the majority ethnic Armenian
region of Azerbaijan where he was born, members of his family were
killed in the resulting military conflict. Safarov implied that he
killed Margaryan to avenge his relatives.
He later changed his testimony, claiming his initial statement was the
result of a miscommunication between he and his interpreters. In a
revised version of his testimony, Safarov claimed that Margaryan had
insulted Azerbaijan's national flag.
The trial was held in Budapest in 2006; a Hungarian court sentenced
Safarov to life in prison, and he could not appeal for pardon for 30
years. (QNA)
SSS,MD