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  • Budapest: Hungary Red-Faced After Azerbaijan Frees Murderer

    HUNGARY RED-FACED AFTER AZERBAIJAN FREES MURDERER

    The Budapest Times
    Sept 4 2012
    Hungary

    Questions over strongman's alleged pledge to buy billions in Hungarian bonds

    Posted on 04 September 2012

    Armenia severed all diplomatic relations with Hungary last Friday
    following the extradition of the Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Sahib
    Safarov, who was convicted of murder in Hungary. Safarov killed
    an Armenian roommate in 2004 during a course of studies organised
    by NATO in Budapest and was given a life sentence in Hungary. Back
    in his homeland Safarov was immediately pardoned by the country's
    president and has been celebrated as a national hero.

    The Hungarian government has since been at pains to explain itself
    and limit the damage. According to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, the
    extradition was in line with the European Convention on the Transfer
    of Sentenced Persons signed in Strasbourg. The state secretary for
    foreign affairs and foreign trade at the prime minister' office
    Peter Szijjarto said that on Sunday the foreign ministry had given
    the Azerbaijani ambassador in Budapest a diplomatic note, describing
    the events following the extradition of the murderer as "unacceptable"
    and "condemning" them. The Hungarian government was dismayed to learn
    that Safarov had been pardoned, Szijjarto said.

    The state secretary also described the events leading up to the
    extradition: Safarov's legal representative had appealed to the
    Hungarian justice minister to allow Safarov to serve his sentence in
    Azerbaijan. The Hungarian justice ministry subsequently made contact
    with the Azerbaijani authorities, which had pledged that the crime for
    which Safarov was sentenced would also quality as a crime in accordance
    with the Azerbaijani criminal code and be subject to a life sentence,
    Szijjarto said. The Azerbaijani authorities had also assured Hungary
    that Safarov would serve the remaining part of the sentence that
    he had begun in Hungary in his homeland. The diplomatic note also
    refers to a promise made in a letter by the deputy justice minister
    of Azerbaijan dated 15 August 2012, according to which the convicted
    murder could hope to be released on conditional parole no earlier
    than 25 years after commencing his prison sentence, Szijjarto said.

    The reality was very different: on day of his extradition, Safarov,
    described in Hungary as an "axe murderer", was pardoned by Azerbaijani
    president Ilham Aliyev, promoted as a soldier and given a rapturous
    welcome by the people. What is more, he was granted a new flat and
    the assurance that he would receive his pay retroactively. That did
    not go unnoticed in the neighbouring country Armenia. The same day
    Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan announced that his country was
    severing relations with Hungary. Irate Armenians protested outside
    the Hungarian consulate in Yerevan and burnt a Hungarian flag.

    There were also protests in Hungary itself. By Sunday evening
    the Facebook group "Hey Armenia, sorry about our Prime Minister"
    had already amassed almost 9,000 members. The organisation "One
    million for Hungarian press freedom" also announced a demonstration of
    solidarity with Armenia on Kossuth ter, and called for an explanation
    from Viktor Orban.

    The largest opposition party, the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)
    said that it was also waiting for an explanation of the events. At a
    Socialist party event on Sunday in Siofok Socialist MP Zsolt Molnar
    called for foreign minister Janos Martonyi to resign. Molnar, who
    is chairman of the parliamentary committee for national security,
    also demanded that Martonyi give answers at the next meeting of the
    committee as to why and how the extradition came about and whether
    consideration had been given to the safety of Hungarians living
    in Armenia.

    Former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's party, the Democratic
    Coalition (DK), went one step further and took to the streets. It
    swiftly repurposed a demonstration taking place in any case against the
    government's education policy and marched from the state secretariat
    for education to the justice ministry. DK party chairman Gyurcsany
    adroitly linked the two topics: "A government that is willing to
    hawk the honour of the country for 30 pieces of silver and release a
    murderer from deserved execution of a prison sentence, is hardly in a
    position to introduce ethics teaching in schools", Gyurcsany said. His
    remark was an allusion to reports in the weekly news magazine HVG
    that Azerbaijan had pledged to buy Hungarian government bonds with a
    value of as much as EUR 3 billion in exchange for handing over Safarov.

    Gyurcsany told journalists that the Azerbaijani authorities had also
    appealed to his government to hand over Safarov. However, since it had
    been clear that Safarov would immediately be released in his homeland
    and celebrated as a hero, his government had refused the request,
    Gyurcsany said. He noted that Orban must have been aware of the
    likely consequences in the absence of guarantees that the convicted
    murderer would continue to serve his sentence in his homeland, such
    as a promise from the Azerbaijani president.

    Democratic Coalition deputy chairman Csaba Molnar accused the
    government of having "turned the honour of the Hungarians into goods
    for sale" and "brought shame on the country". He accused Prime Minister
    Viktor Orban of "preferring to beg money from the devil" than to reach
    an agreement with the European Union and the International Monetary
    Fund. Candles were lit at the end of the demonstration in memory of
    the Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, who was axe murdered in his
    bed in 2004.

    Far-right party Jobbik took a more laid-back view of events. Deputy
    parliamentary party group leader and deputy chairman of the
    parliamentary commission for foreign affairs Marton Gyongyosi said
    that the extradition was fully in line with international law. He told
    state news agency MTI that the Armenian reaction was "over the top and
    hysterical". Gyongyosi also commented that his party had announced a
    policy of opening up to the East, in which Azerbaijan was identified
    as a strategic partner, ahead of the last general elections.

    Regardless of the current case, Azerbaijan would continue to be
    regarded as a such a partner, he said.

    http://www.budapesttimes.hu/2012/09/04/hungary-red-faced-after-azerbaijan-frees-murderer/


    From: Baghdasarian
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