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NATO CHIEF 'CONCERNED' BY AZERI KILLER'S PARDON
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Sept 6 2012
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply
concerned" about the pardoning of an Azerbaijani soldier sentenced
to life for axing an Armenian to death in Hungary.
Ramil Safarov had been serving a life sentence with a possibility of
parole only after 25 years for hacking Armenian Gurgen Margaryan to
death with an ax during a NATO training event in Budapest in 2004. He
attacked Margaryan as the Armenian slept, striking him an alleged
16 times.
"I am deeply concerned by the Azerbaijani decision to pardon the
Azerbaijani army officer Safarov. The act he committed in 2004 was
a terrible crime that should not be glorified," Rasmussen said.
On August 31 Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was
pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev, greeted as a national hero and
promoted to the rank of major.
"The pardon damages trust and does not contribute to the peace
process," the NATO secretary general said in his speech to students
of the Yerevan State University. "There must be no return to conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"Tensions in this region must be reduced, and concrete steps must
be taken to promote regional cooperation and reconciliation,"
he continued.
Over a hundred protestors, mostly young people, rallied outside the
university where Rasmussen delivered his speech. They chanted "Shame"
and "We demand justice."
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.
Hungary said it had agreed to return Safarov to Azerbaijan after
receiving assurances that his sentence would be enforced.
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Ria Novosti
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Sept 6 2012
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply
concerned" about the pardoning of an Azerbaijani soldier sentenced
to life for axing an Armenian to death in Hungary.
Ramil Safarov had been serving a life sentence with a possibility of
parole only after 25 years for hacking Armenian Gurgen Margaryan to
death with an ax during a NATO training event in Budapest in 2004. He
attacked Margaryan as the Armenian slept, striking him an alleged
16 times.
"I am deeply concerned by the Azerbaijani decision to pardon the
Azerbaijani army officer Safarov. The act he committed in 2004 was
a terrible crime that should not be glorified," Rasmussen said.
On August 31 Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was
pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev, greeted as a national hero and
promoted to the rank of major.
"The pardon damages trust and does not contribute to the peace
process," the NATO secretary general said in his speech to students
of the Yerevan State University. "There must be no return to conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"Tensions in this region must be reduced, and concrete steps must
be taken to promote regional cooperation and reconciliation,"
he continued.
Over a hundred protestors, mostly young people, rallied outside the
university where Rasmussen delivered his speech. They chanted "Shame"
and "We demand justice."
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.
Hungary said it had agreed to return Safarov to Azerbaijan after
receiving assurances that his sentence would be enforced.
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Ria Novosti