Estonia’s Armenians rally against Azeri assassin Safarov release

Estonia’s Armenians rally against Azeri assassin Safarov release

PanARMENIAN.Net - Disgruntlement over Hungary's decision to allow a convicted Azeri criminal to serve his sentence at home was expressed among Estonia’s Armenian community of 1,500, ERR reported.

About 100 Armenians staged a protest on September 6 outside an Armenian church in Tallinn over the return of Ramil Safarov to his homeland, where he was promptly pardoned by the president of Azerbaijan.

Safarov was convicted of the murder of an Armenian who attended NATO English courses in Budapest in 2004.

Armenia broke off diplomatic relations with Hungary after the pardon.

About 100 Azeri expats staged a counterprotest at Azerbaijan's embassy in Tallinn the same day.

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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