Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Azerbaijan Pardon Of Officer Who Hacked Armenian To Death With Axe R

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Azerbaijan Pardon Of Officer Who Hacked Armenian To Death With Axe R

    AZERBAIJAN PARDON OF OFFICER WHO HACKED ARMENIAN TO DEATH WITH AXE RAISES FEARS OF NEW WAR

    Montreal Gazette
    Sept 13 2012
    QC, Canada

    By Pablo Gorondi,Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press

    MOSCOW - Shortly before dawn, an Azerbaijani on an English course
    in Hungary crept into the room of a fellow student from arch-enemy
    Armenia. In a frenzy of ethnic hatred, Ramil Safarov hacked the
    sleeping Armenian to death with 26 axe blows - nearly decapitating him.

    Convicted of murder, the Army lieutenant was sentenced to life in
    prison, and the lurid case largely faded from memory for nearly
    a decade.

    It rose like a wrathful ghost last month, when Safarov was sent home,
    pardoned and embraced as a national hero. The affair now threatens to
    wreck 20 years of international attempts to reconcile the two ex-Soviet
    neighbours, which fought a war in the 1990s that killed some 30,000
    and put a large section of Azerbaijan under Armenian control.

    While there's no sign that war is about to erupt again, the Safarov
    dispute shows genuine peace to be further away than ever.

    The tensions worry both Russia and the West, which are jockeying for
    influence in a region seen as a buffer between Europe and Iran and
    as a key player in the world oil market.

    It all started in February, 2004, when Safarov and Armenian Gurgen
    Markarian, also a military officer, were living in the same dormitory
    while attending a NATO-sponsored language course in Budapest.

    On a trip to a supermarket to get food and cigarettes, Safarov bought
    an axe as well.

    Two days later, after finishing his homework, the Azerbaijani sharpened
    his weapon, smoked a few cigarettes and waited in the hallway until
    5 a.m., when his victim would be in his deepest sleep, according to
    his own court testimony.

    Safarov opened the unlocked door to Lt. Markarian's room. He turned
    on the light. The axe blows came raining down, 26 in all, on head,
    neck and body - as Safarov flung insults at his victim.

    When it was over, Safarov told Markarian's Hungarian roommate that
    he wouldn't hurt him. He smoked a cigarette and threw the butt at
    the victim, before calling a fellow Azerbaijani officer and showing
    him the body.

    Then he left to hunt down a second Armenian officer in his room.

    Finding the door locked, Safarov started screaming: "Open up Armenian,
    open up, we're going to cut the throats of all of you" - and started
    breaking down the door with his axe.

    Hayk Makuchyan, the intended victim, told The Associated Press that
    he wanted to open the door to see what was going on, but was stopped
    by his roommate.

    Police arrived and drew their weapons on Safarov, forcing him to lay
    down his axe.

    Safarov was given a life sentence by a Hungarian court in 2006. At
    trial, the Azerbaijani officer said he committed the murder to avenge
    the killing of his relatives by ethnic Armenian forces during the
    1990s conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

    He also said the Armenian officers subjected him to ridicule, throwing
    a basketball at him, teasing him over his studious habits and insulting
    the Azeri flag. Those claims weren't proven in court and ultimately
    rejected by the judge.

    His lawyer said Safarov felt he was doing his duty. "He believed
    that he was defending his country," said Hungarian defence lawyer
    Gyorgy Magyar.

    On Aug. 31, Hungary sent Safarov back home after receiving assurances
    that he would continue serving his sentence there.

    Instead, Safarov was covered in glory. President Ilham Aliev granted
    him an amnesty upon his arrival. He was promoted to the rank of
    major, provided with a new apartment and given back wages for his
    eight-and-a-half years in custody.

    Armenia exploded in anger.

    It immediately cut diplomatic ties with Hungary as protesters in the
    Armenian capital threw tomatoes at the building housing Hungary's
    honorary consulate, and tore down the Hungarian flag.

    A barrage of blustery statements from Armenian and Azerbaijani
    officials raised the fears about a renewed outbreak of the six-year
    war, which ended in 1994.

    The Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and some adjacent territory
    has been under the control of Armenian troops and local ethnic
    Armenian forces since the war's end; shootings and other incidents
    have been frequent.

    Negotiators from Russia, the United States and France, under the
    umbrella of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
    have led efforts to settle the conflict, producing little result.

    Worried about a resumption of hostilities, Washington, Russia and
    the OSCE quickly condemned Azerbaijan's move.

    The oil-rich Caspian Sea nation has remained defiant.

    Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov told U.S. Deputy
    Secretary of State William Burns last week that Safarov's case was
    a consequence of the "Armenian aggression."

    "The entire Azerbaijani society believes that the Armenian officer
    had provoked Safarov and considers his life sentence by a Hungarian
    court unjust," said Vafa Guluzade, an independent political analyst
    based in Baku. "How can Aliev keep him in custody if society believes
    he's innocent?"

    Some Armenian commentators warned that the tensions could spiral into
    armed conflict.

    "It became clear to everyone how difficult it is to deal with such
    a partner," said Ruben Safrastian, the director of the Institute
    of Oriental Studies in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. "The chances
    for negotiating a Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal have grown smaller,
    and the threat of war has increased."

    Azerbaijan's military, which was routed by the Armenian forces
    during the war, has undergone a costly buildup thanks to a flow of
    petrodollars. The country's defence spending, of about $4 billion a
    year, dwarfs the entire Armenian government budget.

    Resource-poor Armenia has been starved by blockades by Azerbaijan
    and its key ally Turkey, but it hosts a major Russian military base
    and is a member of a Russia-led security pact. Armenia also has
    a Soviet-built nuclear power plant located near Yerevan, creating
    potential radiation risks in case of war.

    If fighting erupts, Moscow will be obliged to help its ally,
    raising the prospect of a major conflict in the region crisscrossed
    by strategic oil pipelines carrying Azerbaijan's crude to Western
    markets. NATO member Turkey, in its turn, has a similar obligation
    to Azerbaijan under a 2010 bilateral security pact.

    Orujov, an Azerbaijani political analyst, said that in the current
    situation even a minor skirmish may trigger a full-scale conflict.

    "Amid this new twist of tensions," he said, "the absence of contacts
    between the two countries may push them to the frontline."

    ______

    Gorondi reported from Budapest; Aida Sultanova in Baku, Azerbaijan
    and Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia contributed to this report.

    http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Azerbaijan+pardon+officer+hacked+Armenian+death+wi th+raises+fears/7236936/story.html#ixzz26PCuTQ9K




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X