A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Ms. Victoria Nuland said the United States is in touch with Azerbaijan regarding the pardon of Armenian officer’s murderer Ramil Safarov.

“ Well, we, as you know, issued a statement about this after the Hungarians released him back to Azerbaijan, and we have been in touch with the Azerbaijanis and urging them to meet commitments that they reportedly made to the Hungarians in advance of the release,” she told a daily press briefing.

On August 31, 2012, Hungary extradited Safarov - who brutally murdered Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, in his sleep during a Budapest-based NATO language course in 2004 - to Baku to serve no less than 25 years of the life sentence imposed by the Hungarian justice system. However, immediately upon arrival, Safarov was pardoned by the Azerbaijani President, given an 8-year salary and promoted to major.