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NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES USA JOINS ECUMENICAL LEADERS
National Council of Churches USA
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/120904protestpardon.html
Sept 4 2012
New York, September 4, 2012 - The National Council of Churches
president and a former NCC president have joined international
ecumenical leaders to protest Hungary's release of an Azerbaijani
army officer convicted in 2006 of killing an Armenian officer.
Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, a former National Council of Churches
president and a member of the World Council of Churches Central
Committee, said Hungary "has fallen victim to the continued
anti-Armenian policies and actions of Azerbaijan."
The release of an officer convicted of killing an Armenian on
Hungarian soil "does nothing to further our quest for peace and
stability for all people in the region," said Aykazian, legate of
the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in America.
According to press reports, Armenia severed diplomatic ties with
Hungary after Azerbaijani Lt. Ramil Safarov, serving a life sentence
for the murder of an Armenian officer, was released and returned to
Azerbaijan, where he was pardoned and freed.
Safarov confessed to murdering Armenian Lt. Gurgen Markarian in 2004
when the two were in Hungary on a NATO assignment.
National Council of Churches President Kathryn M. Lohre, also a member
of the WCC Central Committee, said the amnesty "threatens to undermine
justice and peace in the region through the cessation of diplomatic
ties, and the strain on human relationships. We commit ourselves to
pray for and stand in solidarity with all those who strive for human
rights, peace, and understanding."
The Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, in a letter to Prime Minister Viktor
Orban of Hungary, said the release of Safarov "appears as an action
that was not properly considered on the part of the Hungarian
government. Safarov's release by the Azerbaijan government, despite
his life sentence, runs counter to normative practices of justice."
Tveit condemned "actions that severely undermine justice and
reconciliation for the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the
region, who have a right to live side by side with dignity, respect
for human rights and in freedom."
In a letter to His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of all Armenians,
Hungarian church leaders expressed their dismay over their government's
action.
Bishop Peter Gancs, Presiding Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Hungary,
and Bishop Gusztav Bolcskei,
Ministerial President of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary,
wrote: "On behalf of the Protestant communities in Hungary, please
accept our sincere sympathy on the unacceptable amnesty given to
the Azeri criminal who was extradited from Hungary to his homeland
Azerbaijan. While we cannot question that the Hungarian authorities
acted in accordance with the applicable international law, we regret
that the extradition resulted in the intolerable amnesty granted to
the convict by the President of Azerbaijan."
National Council of Churches USA
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/120904protestpardon.html
Sept 4 2012
New York, September 4, 2012 - The National Council of Churches
president and a former NCC president have joined international
ecumenical leaders to protest Hungary's release of an Azerbaijani
army officer convicted in 2006 of killing an Armenian officer.
Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, a former National Council of Churches
president and a member of the World Council of Churches Central
Committee, said Hungary "has fallen victim to the continued
anti-Armenian policies and actions of Azerbaijan."
The release of an officer convicted of killing an Armenian on
Hungarian soil "does nothing to further our quest for peace and
stability for all people in the region," said Aykazian, legate of
the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in America.
According to press reports, Armenia severed diplomatic ties with
Hungary after Azerbaijani Lt. Ramil Safarov, serving a life sentence
for the murder of an Armenian officer, was released and returned to
Azerbaijan, where he was pardoned and freed.
Safarov confessed to murdering Armenian Lt. Gurgen Markarian in 2004
when the two were in Hungary on a NATO assignment.
National Council of Churches President Kathryn M. Lohre, also a member
of the WCC Central Committee, said the amnesty "threatens to undermine
justice and peace in the region through the cessation of diplomatic
ties, and the strain on human relationships. We commit ourselves to
pray for and stand in solidarity with all those who strive for human
rights, peace, and understanding."
The Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, in a letter to Prime Minister Viktor
Orban of Hungary, said the release of Safarov "appears as an action
that was not properly considered on the part of the Hungarian
government. Safarov's release by the Azerbaijan government, despite
his life sentence, runs counter to normative practices of justice."
Tveit condemned "actions that severely undermine justice and
reconciliation for the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the
region, who have a right to live side by side with dignity, respect
for human rights and in freedom."
In a letter to His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of all Armenians,
Hungarian church leaders expressed their dismay over their government's
action.
Bishop Peter Gancs, Presiding Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Hungary,
and Bishop Gusztav Bolcskei,
Ministerial President of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary,
wrote: "On behalf of the Protestant communities in Hungary, please
accept our sincere sympathy on the unacceptable amnesty given to
the Azeri criminal who was extradited from Hungary to his homeland
Azerbaijan. While we cannot question that the Hungarian authorities
acted in accordance with the applicable international law, we regret
that the extradition resulted in the intolerable amnesty granted to
the convict by the President of Azerbaijan."