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AZERI PRESIDENT ALIYEV REJECTS COE JAGLAND'S CRITICISM OF AZERI OFFICER'S PARDONING
Interfx
Sept 11 2012
Russia
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev is bewildered by remarks by some foreign
policymakers, including Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn
Jagland, suggesting that the recent extradition to Azerbaijan of an
Azeri officer sentenced earlier in Hungary to life and his subsequent
pardoning was unlawful.
"[Jagland's] fellow-countryman Breivik killed about 80 people and
got 21 years' imprisonment. That is, three months of imprisonment
for each person he killed. How can this be possible? Why does he
keep silent in this case?" Aliyev said at a meeting with a group of
displaced persons in northwestern Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
As another example of what he sees as a prejudiced attitude toward
Azerbaijan, Aliyev mentioned U.S. Senator Robert Menendez as one
defending the Armenian lobby's interests in the U.S. Senate. Aliyev
claimed that Menendez and his supporters blocked diplomat Matthew
Bryza's appointment as a U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan only because
Bryza does not recognize the Armenian Genocide and because of his
wife's Turkish origin. "But this is racism, this is Islamophobia,"
Aliyev said.
Ramil Safarov, a senior lieutenant in the Azeri army, murdered Armenian
army lieutenant Gurgen Margarian in 2004 in Budapest, where both were
attending an English language course as part of NATO's Partnership
for Peace program.
On April 13, 2006, a Budapest court gave Safarov a life sentence
without the right to seek pardon during the first 30 years of the term.
However, Hungary extradited Safarov to Azerbaijan on August 31, 2012,
assuming that he would serve the rest of his term in his own country,
but President Aliyev pardoned him the same day.
Jagland warned against Safarov's glorification and criticized his
pardoning.
Interfx
Sept 11 2012
Russia
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev is bewildered by remarks by some foreign
policymakers, including Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn
Jagland, suggesting that the recent extradition to Azerbaijan of an
Azeri officer sentenced earlier in Hungary to life and his subsequent
pardoning was unlawful.
"[Jagland's] fellow-countryman Breivik killed about 80 people and
got 21 years' imprisonment. That is, three months of imprisonment
for each person he killed. How can this be possible? Why does he
keep silent in this case?" Aliyev said at a meeting with a group of
displaced persons in northwestern Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
As another example of what he sees as a prejudiced attitude toward
Azerbaijan, Aliyev mentioned U.S. Senator Robert Menendez as one
defending the Armenian lobby's interests in the U.S. Senate. Aliyev
claimed that Menendez and his supporters blocked diplomat Matthew
Bryza's appointment as a U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan only because
Bryza does not recognize the Armenian Genocide and because of his
wife's Turkish origin. "But this is racism, this is Islamophobia,"
Aliyev said.
Ramil Safarov, a senior lieutenant in the Azeri army, murdered Armenian
army lieutenant Gurgen Margarian in 2004 in Budapest, where both were
attending an English language course as part of NATO's Partnership
for Peace program.
On April 13, 2006, a Budapest court gave Safarov a life sentence
without the right to seek pardon during the first 30 years of the term.
However, Hungary extradited Safarov to Azerbaijan on August 31, 2012,
assuming that he would serve the rest of his term in his own country,
but President Aliyev pardoned him the same day.
Jagland warned against Safarov's glorification and criticized his
pardoning.