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Revision as of 12:46, 14 September 2012

It has been suggested that Extradition and pardon of Ramil Safarov be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2012.

Ramil Safarov
Born	Ramil Sahib oğlu Səfərov (1977-08-25) August 25, 1977 (age 47) Jabrayil, Azerbaijani SSR, Soviet Union
Occupation	Major in Azerbaijani Army
Criminal status	Extradited to Azerbaijan, pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev

Criminal charge	Murder
Penalty	Life imprisonment

Ramil Sahib oglu Safarov (Template:Lang-az; born August 25, 1977) is a convicted murderer who, while participating in a NATO-sponsored course of studies in Budapest in 2004 as a lieutenant of the Azerbaijani army, killed a fellow attendee, Armenian army lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, with an axe.

In 2006, Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment in Hungary with a minimum incarceration period of 30 years. After his request under the Strasbourg convention, he was extradited on August 31, 2012 to Azerbaijan where he was greeted as a hero, pardoned by Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev despite contrary assurances made to Hungary, promoted to the rank of major and given an apartment and over eight years of back pay. According to Azerbaijani authorities, Safarov was pardoned in compliance with Article 12 of the convention. Following Safarov's pardon, Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary and Hungarian flags were desecrated in Yerevan.

Early life

Ramil Safarov was born on August 25, 1977 in the town of Jabrayil, Soviet Union (now Azerbaijan) where he finished middle school. He is one of four brothers. Jabrayil was captured by Armenian forces on August 26, 1993, and remains under Armenian control as part of the unresolved Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Safarov's family fled to Baku in 1991. During a court hearing, Safarov recounted memories from the years of war, during which he had lost family members. This, however, contradicted another version he told the court, where he stated that he was studying in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku and in Turkey from 1992 to 1996. He continued his studies at Maltepe Military High School in İzmir and then at the Turkish Military Academy, graduating in 2000, after which he returned to Azerbaijan.

Budapest murder and trial

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In January 2004, the 26-year-old Ramil Safarov, along with another officer from Azerbaijan, went to Budapest (Hungary), to participate in the three-month English language courses, organized by NATO's Partnership for Peace program for military personnel from different countries. Two Armenian officers, a 25-year old Gurgen Margaryan and Hayk Makuchyan, also participated in this program.

External image
The murder weapon

On the evening of February 18, Safarov bought an axe and a honing stone near Tesco at Ferenc Puskás Stadium. He took them in the bag to his dormitory room at the Zrinyi Miklos National Defence University (Zrínyi Miklós Nemzetvédelmi Egyetem), where all the course participants lived. Safarov's roommate was away, at the funerals of his relative back home in Ukraine, and nobody interrupted Safarov, while he sharpened the axe in his room.

At around 5:00 am on February 19, 2004, Safarov took the axe and went to Margaryan's room, which he was sharing with his Hungarian roommate, Balázs Kuti. The door of their room was not locked. Safarov attacked Margaryan with an axe, while he was sleeping, and delivered 16 blows, which almost severed Margarian’s head. The noises woke up Kuti, who was shocked by the scene and cried for Safarov to stop, but was too scared to confront him. According to Kuti, Safarov had "such an expression on his face as if he had completed something important well enough."

Afterward, Safarov headed for the room of Makuchyan, the other Armenian student, with the intention of also attacking him, but found his door locked. He shouted out Makuchyan’s name. The half sleeping Makuchyan wanted to open the door, but his Lithuanian roommate stopped him and called his compatriot next door to check what was going on. Then Safarov attempted to break the door with an ax, but, by this time, the students in the neighboring rooms already woke up, went out to the corridor and tried to persuade him to stop. Soon after, the Hungarian police, which was summoned by Balázs Kuti, arrived and arrested Safarov at the scene.

During his initial interrogation Safarov confessed to killing Margaryan and an intention to kill Makuchyan and described his motives as follows:

Armenians occupied my place of birth <...> in 1993, August 25. <...> It happened on the date of my birth. I don’t know how many people were killed at that time, but <...> it’s huge number. That was the time when I lost part of my close relatives as well. I applied to the army in 1991 <...> The only motivation for me for fight against Armenians and to kill as many as possible in the fight. I feel sorry that I haven’t killed any Armenian.
My army sent me to this training and being here I have to face the fact that two Armenian were learning with me and I have to say that <...> the feeling of animosity grow up in me. In the beginning we were greeting each other, rather to say they said hi to me, but I didn’t accept it and <...> when they walked close to me they were mumbled something in Armenian and laughed at me. That was the time when I decided that I will kill these two persons, the Armenians, I will cut their head off. The reason for this is that Armenians kill Azerbaijanians in the same way. <...>
After I finished I lit a cigarette. <...> I was smoking <...> and then I threw it, <...> it fell on the chest of the Armenian. <...> Since I hate them so much and I was prepared for the revenge for so long it was a relieve for me. As long as I didn’t care about him it didn’t mean whether I threw the cigarette onto the ground, or on his bed or into his eyes. <...>
My job is to kill all, because until they live we will suffer. This conflict is not a new one, goes back to 100-200 years.

According to Balázs Kuti, at the very beginning of the language courses, when the students got acquainted, there was a conversation about different international issues, but nobody spoke of it afterwards. Kuti said that he did not notice any strain in the relationships between Gurgen Margaryan and the Azeri officers.

When the case went to trial Safarov's defense asserted that the murder was committed because Margaryan had insulted the Azerbaijani flag. No witnesses were ever called to corroborate this account.

On April 13, 2006, a Hungarian court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without right of appeal for 30 years. The judge, Andras Vaskuti, cited the premeditated nature and brutality of the crime and the fact that Safarov showed no remorse for his deeds as the reasons for the sentence. On February 22, 2007, a Hungarian appeal court upheld the ruling following an appeal filed by Safarov's lawyer.

While serving his sentence, Safarov translated two novels by Hungarian authors into Azeri.

Reaction

A lawyer representing the victim's family welcomed the sentence as a "good decision for the Hungarian court and for society."

The banned radical Azerbaijan National Democrat Party awarded Safarov with the title of "Man of the Year 2005" for killing an Armenian.

The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs condemned Azerbaijan's reaction to the brutal murder of the Armenian officer in a hearing. A report which was published by the Committee on Foreign Affairs contained a statement by Bryan Ardouny, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America, who stated that "The Azerbaijani government has also consistently failed to condemn Safarov, an Azeri military officer who in 2003 brutally murdered an Armenian participant at a NATO Partnership for Peace military training exercise in Budapest, Hungary. Instead, it has encouraged domestic media and various organizations to treat the murderer as a celebrity. That individual has since been awarded the title of ‘‘Man of the Year’’ by Azerbaijan’s National-Democratic Party."

Extradition and pardon

After serving eight years of the life sentence, Safarov was extradited under the framework guidelines of the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and transferred to Azerbaijan on August 31, 2012. Although the Hungarian government stated that it had received assurances from the Azerbaijan government that the remainder of the sentence would be enforced, President Ilham Aliyev issued a pardon immediately upon Safarov's arrival in Baku and ordered that he be "freed from the term of his punishment."

After arriving in Baku, Safarov stated: "This is the restoration of justice. It was a little surprise for me." He then visited Martyrs' Lane to lay flowers at the tomb of Azerbaijan's former president Heydar Aliyev. He also laid flowers at the Eternal Flame monument and visited a monument to Turkish soldiers.

Reactions

Armenia

External videos
Protesters burn the Hungarian flag in Yerevan on YouTube

President Serzh Sargsyan announced Armenia's suspension of diplomatic relations and all official communications with Hungary on the day of Safarov's release. "This is not a simple murder. It is murder on ethnic grounds," he said.

Sargsyan suggested the possibility that Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán had entered into a secret agreement during the latter's visit to Baku on June 30, 2012. Media sources have also speculated that Hungary's deepening economic ties with Azerbaijan may have had something to do with Safarov's release. Sargsyan concluded his statements by saying, "with their joint actions the authorities of Hungary and Azerbaijan have opened the door for the recurrence of such crimes."

Demonstrations took place in front of the Hungarian consulate in Yerevan, during which the building was pelted with tomatoes. Demonstrators also burned a Hungarian flag. A photo of Safarov was also burned by the activists. National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan cancelled his visit to Hungary planned for late September.

Hayk Makuchyan, whom Safarov unsuccessfuly planned to kill on the same night as Margaryan, stated that he will petition to all judicial instances and possibly The Hague, since the murder was committed on ethnic grounds, adding: "I had no doubt that Ramil Safarov would not have served his sentence in the case of an extradition. But the Azerbaijani leadership’s cynicism surpassed everything."

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev promoted Safarov to the rank of major and the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan provided him with an apartment. On September 1, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said that the return of Safarov to Azerbaijan is a matter of relations between Azerbaijan and Hungary, which was resolved in the "framework of the law and is not contrary to norms and principles of the international law." He described Sargsyan's statements as "hysterical" and accused him of being one of the leaders of the group that committed the Khojaly Massacre.

Novruz Mammadov, the head of the presidential foreign relations department, claimed that secret talks had been going on for a year between Azerbaijan and Hungary, and that agreement had been reached on the visit of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.

Hungary

File:Kossuth Square protest Sep 4 2012 against safarovs extradition.jpgHungarian protesters gathered in front of the Hungarian parliamentFile:Sep 4 Budapest protest against safarov extradition.jpgA Hungarian protesterFile:Armenian protest London Hungarian embassy.jpgArmenians protest in front of the Hungarian embassy in London

Armenians protest in front of the Hungarian Embassy in Nicosia

On September 2 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary announced the country "refuses to accept and condemns the action of Azerbaijan, which contradicts the relevant rules of international law and sharply contrasts the undertaking of the Azerbaijani side in this matter, confirmed by the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan in his letter <...> of 15 August 2012." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the action of Azerbaijan in a diplomatic note. The press release also states that "Hungary regards the decision of Azerbaijan inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation based on mutual trust that has been achieved during the past years between our respective countries."

The opposition parties strongly criticized Viktor Orbán and his cabinet for the move. Representatives of MSZP, the largest opposition party, called for various subcommittees of the parliament to examine who exactly made the decision and why the procedure was kept secret. MSZP had been in power until 2010, and had refused to release Safarov.

Other countries and international organizations

European Union: EU Foreign Affairs Representative Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle announced that they are "concerned by the news that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov". They called 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 in the interest of regional stability and on-going efforts towards reconciliation".

Collective Security Treaty Organisation: Secretary-General Nikolay Bordyuzha stated that Azerbaijan's decision to pardon Safarov is against international law. He then continued, "this move was obviously done for the sake of short-term political goals and can not be justified by anything".

OSCE Minsk Group: The OSCE Minsk Group (composed of negotiators from the US, Russia and France to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh) stated that Azerbaijan's pardoning of a military officer who murdered an Armenian officer has harmed attempts to establish peace between the countries.

United States: Both the United States National Security Council and the State Department expressed concern over the matter and reported that Azerbaijan had been asked to explain its decision. The Azeri foreign ministry responded, "it is perplexing that the U.S. government interferes in the relations of two independent states - Azerbaijan and Hungary" and suggested that the U.S. response was connected to the elections in U.S.

Russia: On September 3, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the following statement: "In Russia, which is the co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, received reports with deep concern regarding the clemency of Baku Azeri serviceman Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the commission of the murder of an Armenian officer with an extreme atrocity in Hungary in the 2004, as well as regarding the preceded decision of the Hungarian authorities to extradite him to Azerbaijan. We believe that these actions of Azerbaijan, as well as the Hungarian authorities to run counter to the efforts agreed at international level, particularly through the OSCE Minsk Group, directed to reduce tension in the region."

France: Foreign Ministry said that "France expresses her concern following the announcement of the pardon granted to M. Safarov by the Azerbaijani authorities". As one of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, France is "strongly committed to a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, believes that this decision risks seriously damaging the negotiation efforts and the establishment of a climate of trust between the parties."

Sweden: Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted "Strange decision in Azerbaijan to pardon man having murdered an Armenian in Hungary. Rule of law must apply.".

Non-government organizations

British expert on Caucasus Thomas de Waal called President Aliyev's move to pardon Safarov "deeply provocative". In Waal's view, "This is now a full-blown state-to-state row, with as yet unknowable consequences."

The Economist suggested that "Azerbaijan had promised to buy state bonds from Hungary in exchange for Safarov’s release."

Azerbaijan

Mixed thoughts came from the Azerbaijani organizations. Zardusht Alizadeh, chair of the Open Society Institute in Azerbaijan, condemned the act of pardon, saying it would not contribute positively to the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to Alizadeh, the act was not based on any political will, respect of law or interest in conflict resolution, but instead had only "cheap fame" to it. While the Head of the Congress of Azeri-Turkic Women Tanzila Rustamkhanli, who's known for her highly nationalist views and writer Aysel Alizadeh have justified the pardon, known journalist of Radio Liberty Azerbaijan Khadija Ismayilova have stated that what Safarov had done is "awful" and the reaction of seeing him as a "hero" "happens when society is not allowed to do anything. They are angry. People of Azerbaijan lost the war, lost the territory to occupants, became refugees, lost their siblings including civilians and they were stopped and banned from restoring justice on the battle field." on her Facebook account.

People's Writer of Azerbaijan Akram Aylisli who is also a deputy in the Azerbaijani National Assembly have refused to say anything about the "campaign", as he has his "own ideas of and approach to heroism.". Azeri media have criticized United States' concern over the situation and added that they should also have react when Varoujan Garabedian, an ASALA member have pardoned and greeted as a hero in his hometown. Famous lawyer Erkin Gadirli, despite himself concerned about the background of the pardon have stated that "in January 2003 Robert Kocharian, then the President of Armenia, delivered a speech in Moscow Diplomatic Academy. There he said exactly the following: "Armenians and Azerbaijanis are genetically incompatible". International community did not condemned his racist statement. Not only Armenian people were not ashamed, but they elected him as a President." So the whole Azerbaijani people should not be guilty if some invidual killed some other one. Meanwhile The Azerbaijani Americans for Democracy (AZAD) sent an open letter to Hillary Clinton with stating that the USA needs to condemn the human rights abuses of the president of Azerbaijan who regularly violates the rights of Azerbaijani people rather than Safarov issue.

The leading Azerbaijani Russian-language news website Day.az have called its readers to edit the Russian Misplaced Pages article about Safarov from possible "revenge of Armenian nationalists".

Hungary

Péter Erdő, the Archdiocese of Esztergom and the Hungarian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, in a letter to Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, issued a statement expressing "full solidarity with the Armenian Christians and with the Armenian people that has so much suffered in the past."

A Facebook page was created on September 1, apologizing for Hungarian PM's actions. The group is called "Hey Armenia, sorry about our Prime Minister" (a poster with similar title was used in fall 2011, asking EU for forgiveness for Orbán) and has more than 10,000 likes as of September 3.

On September 4, 2012, a demonstration took place in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building in Kossuth Square. It was reported that about two thousand Hungarians protested against their government's actions.

Armenian diaspora

In many cities around the world where Armenian diaspora is present demonstrations took place against Hungarian and Azerbaijani government actions, including Tbilisi, Rostov-on-Don. and Nicosia.