UYA to commemorate Gurgen Margaryan, Sumgait massacre

UYA to commemorate Gurgen Margaryan, Sumgait massacre

PanARMENIAN.Net - In memory of Lt. Gurgen Margaryan, a slain Armenian officer axed to death while asleep by the self-confessed Azeri ax-murderer Lt. Ramil Safarov on February 19, 2004, and in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Sumgait massacres in Azerbaijan, the Unified Young Armenians (UYA) will organize a rally on February 19, 2013, at 3:00 pm in front of Consulate of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles.

The same building also houses the Hungarian Consulate.

“The government of Azerbaijan secured the extradition of Ramil Safarov by purchasing billions of dollars of Hungarian sovereign debt and by promising investment in that country. Subsequently, Ilham Aliyev, the authoritarian "president" of Azerbaijan who took power from his father in 2003 pardoned the killer, promoted him to the rank of major, and paraded him in the streets of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Lt. Gurgen Margaryan's killing was not a case of simple murder. Rather, it was a slap in the face of NATO Alliance as the murder occurred during NATO’s Partnership for Peace training program,” UYA said in a statement.

For the sake of the past, and for the sake of the future, Unified Young Armenians calls upon the Armenian community, as well as the peace-loving people of the Southern California to be there and amplify our call for justice and fairness.

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.

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