STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSONS OF EU HIGH REPRESENTATIVE CATHERINE ASHTON AND COMMISSIONER TEFAN FLE ON THE RELEASE OF RAMIL SAFAROV
The European Union
Sept 3 2012
The spokespersons of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the
Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the
Commission and tefan F¼le, European Commissioner for Enlargement and
Neighbourhood Policy, issued the following statement today:
"The High Representative and Commissioner F¼le are concerned by
the news that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Azerbaijani
army officer Ramil Safarov, who was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment for the murder of Armenian Army officer Gurgen Margaryan
in Budapest in 2004.
Ramil Safarov was transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan on 31
August on the basis of an Azerbaijani request, in the framework of
the Convention of Strasbourg on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons of
21 March 1983, to serve the rest of his sentence. EU representatives
are in contact with the relevant authorities and will continue to
follow the situation closely.
In the interest of regional stability and on-going efforts towards
reconciliation, the High Representative and Commissioner F¼le
reiterate their call on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise restraint,
on the ground as well as in public statements, in order to prevent
an escalation of the situation.
The European Union
Sept 3 2012
The spokespersons of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the
Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the
Commission and tefan F¼le, European Commissioner for Enlargement and
Neighbourhood Policy, issued the following statement today:
"The High Representative and Commissioner F¼le are concerned by
the news that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Azerbaijani
army officer Ramil Safarov, who was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment for the murder of Armenian Army officer Gurgen Margaryan
in Budapest in 2004.
Ramil Safarov was transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan on 31
August on the basis of an Azerbaijani request, in the framework of
the Convention of Strasbourg on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons of
21 March 1983, to serve the rest of his sentence. EU representatives
are in contact with the relevant authorities and will continue to
follow the situation closely.
In the interest of regional stability and on-going efforts towards
reconciliation, the High Representative and Commissioner F¼le
reiterate their call on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise restraint,
on the ground as well as in public statements, in order to prevent
an escalation of the situation.