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HUNGARY SUMMONS AZERI AMBASSADOR, DEMANDS EXPLANATION FOR RELEASE OF KILLER
Xinhua General News Service
September 2, 2012 Sunday 3:40 PM EST
China
Hungarian deputy foreign minister Zsolt Nemeth on Sunday summoned
Azerbaijan's ambassador to Hungary Vilayat Guliyev to voice the
government's displeasure over the release of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri
soldier sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Armenian Army
lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in 2004 in Hungary.
Hungary turned Safarov over to Azeri custody on Friday after receiving
assurances that he would serve out the remaining portion of his
sentence, only to see Safarov receive a hero's welcome, an immediate
presidential pardon, promotion to the rank of major and, allegedly,
eight years of back pay for the time spent in a Hungarian prison.
Nemeth called the presidential pardon unacceptable and condemnable.
Armenia has broken off diplomatic relations with Hungary over the
incident, charging that Hungary had struck a deal with Azerbaijan to
secure energy deliveries from that oil-rich country.
According to Nemeth, Azeri authorities had flaunted international
law and broken their officially reiterated promise that Safarov would
serve out his sentence. This move, Nemeth said, conflicted with the
attitude of trust that had evolved between Hungary and Azerbaijan in
recent years.
Nemeth presented Guliyev with a written protest from his foreign
ministry,underlining the Hungarian government's shock over the amnesty.
Meanwhile, Hungarian officials continue to stress that they had acted
in accordance with the Council of Europe's extradition accord in 1983
after Safarov's legal representative asked that his client serve out
his sentence in his home country.
Hungary handles 8-12 extradition cases of this kind each year, the
State Secretary in Charge of Foreign Affairs for the Prime Minister's
office Peter Szijjarto said.
Szijjarto voiced respect for Armenia and its people and said he would
like to assure the Armenian authorities that Hungary had remained
within the bounds of international and Council of Europe law, according
to Hungarian News agency MTI.
From: A. Papazian
Xinhua General News Service
September 2, 2012 Sunday 3:40 PM EST
China
Hungarian deputy foreign minister Zsolt Nemeth on Sunday summoned
Azerbaijan's ambassador to Hungary Vilayat Guliyev to voice the
government's displeasure over the release of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri
soldier sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Armenian Army
lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in 2004 in Hungary.
Hungary turned Safarov over to Azeri custody on Friday after receiving
assurances that he would serve out the remaining portion of his
sentence, only to see Safarov receive a hero's welcome, an immediate
presidential pardon, promotion to the rank of major and, allegedly,
eight years of back pay for the time spent in a Hungarian prison.
Nemeth called the presidential pardon unacceptable and condemnable.
Armenia has broken off diplomatic relations with Hungary over the
incident, charging that Hungary had struck a deal with Azerbaijan to
secure energy deliveries from that oil-rich country.
According to Nemeth, Azeri authorities had flaunted international
law and broken their officially reiterated promise that Safarov would
serve out his sentence. This move, Nemeth said, conflicted with the
attitude of trust that had evolved between Hungary and Azerbaijan in
recent years.
Nemeth presented Guliyev with a written protest from his foreign
ministry,underlining the Hungarian government's shock over the amnesty.
Meanwhile, Hungarian officials continue to stress that they had acted
in accordance with the Council of Europe's extradition accord in 1983
after Safarov's legal representative asked that his client serve out
his sentence in his home country.
Hungary handles 8-12 extradition cases of this kind each year, the
State Secretary in Charge of Foreign Affairs for the Prime Minister's
office Peter Szijjarto said.
Szijjarto voiced respect for Armenia and its people and said he would
like to assure the Armenian authorities that Hungary had remained
within the bounds of international and Council of Europe law, according
to Hungarian News agency MTI.
From: A. Papazian