Armenian officer’s assassin Ramil Safarov extradited to Azerbaijan

August 31, 2012 - 15:55 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - According to Azerbaijani media outlets, “Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree to grant Ramil Safarov amnesty.”

“Under Paragraph 22 of Azerbaijani Constitution’s Article 109, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on August 31 to grant amnesty to citizen Ramil Safarov, who on April 13, 2006 was sentenced to life in prison by Budapest District Court,” Azeri media reported.

Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan from Hungary, where he was serving a life sentence, with his photograph in Baku posted as a proof, according to Azeri media reports.

Armenian Foreign Ministry has so far refrained from commenting on the information.

Representative of Armenian embassy in Hungary Arthur Musheghyan neither confirmed, nor denied the information.

“Armenian foreign Minsitry will issue an official statement after Hungarian authorities give official notice,” he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Gurgen Margaryan

On February 19, 2004, Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani participant, lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of Partnership for Peace NATO-sponsored program. In accordance with Budapest District Court sentence dated April 13, 2006, Ramil Safarov was life imprisoned for murdering the Armenian officer.

On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the Azerbaijani military officer's appeal against a life sentence. The appeal court ruled that the decision brought by Budapest District Court against 30-year-old Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, should stand.

On August 31, 2012, Hungary extradited Safarov back to Azerbaijan, where he was promptly pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.