Tuesday, February 2 2016 11:28

 One should not expect the European Court of Human Rights to return Ramil Safarov, the Azeri serviceman who killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, to the Hungarian jail, Larisa Alaverdyan, the first ombudsperson of Armenia, said at a press conference in Yerevan on February 2, when replying to ArmInfo's question.        

"The ECHR will never decide to return Safarov to the Hungarian jail, however, it may take a decision on material compensation to the aggrieved party or it may warn the parties which have violated the legal standards. The given issue may change the attitude towards Azerbaijan and its judiciary system," she said.  Alaverdyan pointed out that Armenia may be a third party in the trial. "The plaintiff should put the main emphasis on the fact that Azerbaijan glorified the criminal and even financially motivated him upon his return to the motherland. This means that Azerbaijan encourages the crimes committed on ethnic grounds," she said. 

To note, the Governments of Azerbaijan and Hungary have been asked by the European Court of Human Rights to respond formally to the case brought by the relatives of Armenian army officer Gurgen Margaryan, who was murdered by Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov in Budapest in 2004, according to the European Human Rights Advocacy Center. 

To recall, on February 19, 2004, Safarov murdered Margaryan by decapitating him with an axe. The two officers were attending a Partnership for Peace NATO-sponsored English-language course in Budapest. In April 2006 Safarov was found guilty of murder by the Budapest City Court, and was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the possibility of conditional release after 30 years. After the Court of Appeal upheld this judgment in February 2007, Safarov began serving his sentence in a Hungarian prison. Having served five years of his sentence in Hungary, Safarov was transferred to Azerbaijan in 2012, where he was granted a presidential pardon, released, promoted to a major, awarded eight years' salary in arrears and offered a flat.  Armenia broke off diplomatic relations with Hungary. The world community strongly condemned Budapest for extradition of Safarov, and criticized Baku for Safarov's illegal release.