Safarov's lawyers going to reach European Court

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Azerbaijani Coordination Council on Ramil Safarov's rights defense "protests" against the decision of the Hungarian Court of Appeal which sustained life sentence for the Azeri serviceman, council representative, Azeri Milli Mejlis member Azay Guliyev said. He said the Coordination Council rates the verdict as "partial and preconceived and is going to appeal it in the Hungarian Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights."



"We expected such a decision," Safarov's father told reporters. He said Ramil called him several days ago and informed that two or three judges of the Court of Appeal were replaced. Safarov senior blamed the Azeri Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of Prosecutor General for "inactivity in defending Ramil." "I think this verdict was handed against whole Azerbaijan but not my son," he said, reports Novosti Azerbaijan.



February 22, 2007 judge Piroski Karpati of the Hungarian Court of Appeal sustained the April 13 verdict providing for life imprisonment for Ramil Safarov, the murderer of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan.



February 19, 2004 Armenian armed forces lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, who was taking an English language course within Partnership for Peace NATO program, was hacked to death by Safarov. The Hungarian court sentenced the murderer for life imprisonment without the right to pardon during initial 30 years.