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EU TO SEEK EXPLANATIONS FROM BAKU OVER MURDERER'S PARDON
ATTILA KISBENEDEK
RIA Novosti
05/09/2012
YEREVAN
The European Union will seek explanations from Baku on why it violated
agreements with Hungary on the extradition of a Azerbaijani national,
convicted for murder, a spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief
said on Wednesday.
Ramil Safarov had been serving a life sentence with a possibility
of parole only after 25 years for hacking Gurgen Margaryan to death
with an ax during a NATO training event Budapest in 2004. He attacked
Margaryan as the Armenian slept, striking him an alleged 16 times.
On August 31 Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was
pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev and promoted to the rank of major.
Hungary said it had agreed to return Safarov to Azerbaijan after
receiving assurances that his sentence would be enforced.
"According to what we know now, on the basis of the information
gathered, it would appear that certain conditions and commitments
that were agreed between Hungary and Azerbaijan on the transfer of
Ramil Safarov have not been met," Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for
EU Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton, said in an interview with
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
"In that respect we will continue or we will try to be in touch with
the Azeri side to hear the explanation why this has happened and why
the behavior that is endangering the fragile situation in the region
is continuing," she went on.
The EU foreign action service spokeswoman called on both sides to
show restraint in their public statements.
When asked about possible EU actions in connection with the dispute,
Kocijancic said that "we follow the situation, and we will see
accordingly whether there is a need for additional steps."
She said that the issue might be discussed by EU foreign ministers, who
will gather for an informal meeting on Friday and Saturday in Cyprus.
Parliamentary State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry Zsolt
Nemeth on Sunday handed over a note of protest to the Azerbaijani
ambassador to Hungary. The Hungarian foreign ministry accused
Azerbaijan of breaching the extradition agreements and described
Safarov's pardon as "inadmissible."
Armenia has suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary over the
extradition. Defense Minister Seiran Oganyan ordered Armenian troops
to be put on higher alert.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since fighting a bitter war
over the mainly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the early 1990s.
A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but relations continue to be strained.
ATTILA KISBENEDEK
RIA Novosti
05/09/2012
YEREVAN
The European Union will seek explanations from Baku on why it violated
agreements with Hungary on the extradition of a Azerbaijani national,
convicted for murder, a spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief
said on Wednesday.
Ramil Safarov had been serving a life sentence with a possibility
of parole only after 25 years for hacking Gurgen Margaryan to death
with an ax during a NATO training event Budapest in 2004. He attacked
Margaryan as the Armenian slept, striking him an alleged 16 times.
On August 31 Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was
pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev and promoted to the rank of major.
Hungary said it had agreed to return Safarov to Azerbaijan after
receiving assurances that his sentence would be enforced.
"According to what we know now, on the basis of the information
gathered, it would appear that certain conditions and commitments
that were agreed between Hungary and Azerbaijan on the transfer of
Ramil Safarov have not been met," Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for
EU Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton, said in an interview with
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
"In that respect we will continue or we will try to be in touch with
the Azeri side to hear the explanation why this has happened and why
the behavior that is endangering the fragile situation in the region
is continuing," she went on.
The EU foreign action service spokeswoman called on both sides to
show restraint in their public statements.
When asked about possible EU actions in connection with the dispute,
Kocijancic said that "we follow the situation, and we will see
accordingly whether there is a need for additional steps."
She said that the issue might be discussed by EU foreign ministers, who
will gather for an informal meeting on Friday and Saturday in Cyprus.
Parliamentary State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry Zsolt
Nemeth on Sunday handed over a note of protest to the Azerbaijani
ambassador to Hungary. The Hungarian foreign ministry accused
Azerbaijan of breaching the extradition agreements and described
Safarov's pardon as "inadmissible."
Armenia has suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary over the
extradition. Defense Minister Seiran Oganyan ordered Armenian troops
to be put on higher alert.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since fighting a bitter war
over the mainly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the early 1990s.
A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but relations continue to be strained.