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SAFAROV CASE CAN FURTHER AGGRAVATE ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN RELATIONS -PACE CHIEF
ITAR-TASS
September 5, 2012 Wednesday 07:28 PM GMT+4
Russia
The international scandal involving the so-called "Safarov case"
may have "very negative consequences" for already-strained relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Jean-Claude Mignon, President of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said on
Wednesday, September 5.
"I join the international condemnation of the 'glorification' of the
terrible crime which Mr Safarov has committed, and for which he has
been condemned by a court in a Council of Europe member state," he
said. "His liberation is unacceptable, and I am extremely disappointed
by the abusive use of a Council of Europe legal instrument in this
affair."
"This scandalous liberation is having very negative consequences
on the already-strained relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
and also risks destabilising the situation in the region. I call on
the Azeri authorities to reconsider their position, in line with the
standards and the ethos of the Council of Europe," Mignon concluded.
Safarov, an Azerbaijani army officer who had been serving a life
sentence in Hungary for the brutal 2004 murder of an Armenian officer
in Budapest, was transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan on August
31 on the basis of an Azerbaijani request under the Convention of
Strasbourg on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons of March 21, 1983,
to serve the rest of his sentence.
On August 31, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made the decision
to pardon Safarov.
Earlier this week, Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of
the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Stefan Fule,
European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, voiced
concern about the release of 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.
"The High Representative and Commissioner Fule 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," their spokespersons said.
"In the interest of regional stability and on-going efforts towards
reconciliation, the High Representative and Commissioner Fule
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," they said.
ITAR-TASS
September 5, 2012 Wednesday 07:28 PM GMT+4
Russia
The international scandal involving the so-called "Safarov case"
may have "very negative consequences" for already-strained relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Jean-Claude Mignon, President of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said on
Wednesday, September 5.
"I join the international condemnation of the 'glorification' of the
terrible crime which Mr Safarov has committed, and for which he has
been condemned by a court in a Council of Europe member state," he
said. "His liberation is unacceptable, and I am extremely disappointed
by the abusive use of a Council of Europe legal instrument in this
affair."
"This scandalous liberation is having very negative consequences
on the already-strained relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
and also risks destabilising the situation in the region. I call on
the Azeri authorities to reconsider their position, in line with the
standards and the ethos of the Council of Europe," Mignon concluded.
Safarov, an Azerbaijani army officer who had been serving a life
sentence in Hungary for the brutal 2004 murder of an Armenian officer
in Budapest, was transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan on August
31 on the basis of an Azerbaijani request under the Convention of
Strasbourg on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons of March 21, 1983,
to serve the rest of his sentence.
On August 31, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made the decision
to pardon Safarov.
Earlier this week, Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of
the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Stefan Fule,
European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, voiced
concern about the release of 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.
"The High Representative and Commissioner Fule 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," their spokespersons said.
"In the interest of regional stability and on-going efforts towards
reconciliation, the High Representative and Commissioner Fule
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," they said.