The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Janos Martonyi, sent a letter to his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, concerning the issue of Safarrov’s extradition.
The following statements were written in the letter:
“Hungary’s recent transfer of Ramil Saharov to Azerbaijan was not aimed against Armenia and it cannot be considered as an insult to the Armenian people, since the transfer of Safarov, who was serving a life sentence for murdering an Armenian officer, Gurgen Margaryan in Hungary, was in line with effective international regulations and Hungary’s practice in similar cases”.
In his letter Martonyi expressed disappointment over Armenia’s decision, suspending diplomatic ties with Hungary and referred to the traditional friendship between the two countries and the “Christian values connecting the two peoples for a thousand years”.
“Suspending diplomatic relations could have such serious ramifications that would not serve the interests of Armenia,” said Martonyi.
In the end Martonyi assured his Armenian counterpart, that Hungary is still seeking cooperation with Armenia and urged for a bilateral effort to find a way of restoring friendly relations.
Note, On February 19, 2004 Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan of the Armenian Armed Forces was violently hacked to death in a racially motivated murder by fellow student, Ramil Safarov, a member of Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces during an English language course within the framework of NATO’s “Partnership for Peace” program in Budapest, Hungary. Safarov attacked Margaryan while he slept with an ax and killed him after 16 blows. On April 13, 2006 Ramil Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Gurgen Margaryan in the city of Budapest.
Robert Kocharyan, (at that time president of Armenia, year 2005) posthumously awarded Gurgen Margaryan with the “Courage” Medal.
On August 31, 2012, Hungarian authorities extradited Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan with the understanding that he would serve the remainder of his sentence in his home country. Contrary to this agreement, upon arrival Ramil Safarov was greeted as a national hero and was immediately pardoned by the president of Azerbaijan, who once again proved to the international community that murdering Armenians is not considered a crime.
According to some sources Hungary transferred Safarov to Azerbaijan, in order to get 2-3 Billion Euros from the Azerbaijani government.
