Speaking at a press conference in August 2012, Executive Director of the Fund against Violation of Law, Larisa Alaverdyan, said that the possibility of extradition of Ramil Safarov, who killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in 2004, to Azerbaijan was “above the average.” She said that she came to this conclusion based on “changes and impulses” coming from Hungary.
The representative of interests of the family of Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest, lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan said that the situation did not change at all, and Azerbaijan was always trying to keep the issue of Ramil Safarov’s extradition on the agenda.
“Hungary has had a clear position on this issue so far, and there have never been precedents of extradition of murderers yet. All the efforts of Azerbaijan to do this have failed. However the interest in this case should not be weakened and our society and government bodies should continue fighting against the extradition of Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan,” the lawyer said.
The next day, on August 31, 2012, it became known that Ramil Safarov was returned to Azerbaijan, where he was immediately pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.
Just one week after the murder of Gurgen Margaryan, the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Safar Abiyev, said that he was taking all necessary efforts to return Safarov to his homeland. “Ramil Safarov will return to Baku,” Abiyev was convinced.
On August 31, Alex Avanesyan, the vice president of the Armenian National Autonomy of Hungary, told Mediamax that from August 20 the Armenian authorities already knew about the intention of Hungarian authorities to extradite Safarov.
“Our sources informed us that Hungary was going to extradite Ramil Safarov to motherland. We have warned the Armenian Embassy in Hungary and the Ministry of Diaspora about this,” Alex Avanesyan said.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan confirmed to Mediamax that that the Armenian Foreign Ministry received reports about Hungarian authorities’ decision to extradite Ramil Safarov.
He noted that immediately after receiving the information, the Foreign Ministry took steps through official and other channels to confirm it, holding meetings at various levels. Following these meetings, the Armenian side was assured that Ramil Safarov would continue to serve his sentence in Hungary.
“The behavior of Hungarian authorities is especially unacceptable given the fact that the Armenian authorities, expressing extreme concern over this information, tried to get clarifications from the authorities of Hungary, and until most recent we’ve heard assurances that this issue is not on the agenda,” deputy foreign minister told Mediamax.
On August 31, session of the Armenian National Security Council was convened chaired by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
Serzh Sargsyan started his speech in this way:
“We all know what has happened: Hungarian authorities returned the murderer of Gurgen Margaryan to Azerbaijan and the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned this assassin. Of course, we can’t stand this and will have to decide what we are going to do.
The first thing which is quite clear and has already been done by the Armenian Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff of Armenian Armed Forces is that the vigilance of our troops has been increased. This is a necessary condition.
Secondly, Mr. Gorik Hakobyan (the head of the National Security Service - Mediamax), immediately after this meeting I will have a special assignment for you.
Third, I want us to discuss the issue of continuation of diplomatic relations with Hungary now.
Forth, I think, the National Assembly should summon a session and discuss this issue.
I also think it’s high time for us to write letters to the heads of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair states. We have to give relevant instructions to the heads of our diplomatic missions. I have already spoken to the leaders of traditional parties and I believe Armenians living abroad should also give their assessment.
The Hungarian authorities should understand that they have made a rough mistake. They, in fact, have made a deal with the authorities of Azerbaijan. The comments made by Azerbaijan that they have been secretly negotiating with Hungary for over a year and that the issue has been finally solved with Hungarian Prime Minister during his official visit to Baku, bears witness to the fact that this was not the decision of the Justice Minister. These are coordinated actions of countries which have concluded a deal. We must give relevant response.”
After the session of the Security Council, the President invited the heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia and, in particular, said:
“With their joint actions the authorities of Hungary and Azerbaijan have opened the door for the recurrence of such crimes. With this decision they convey a clear message to the butchers. The slaughterers hereafter are well aware of impunity they can enjoy for the murder driven by ethnic or religious hatred.
I cannot tolerate that.
The Republic of Armenia cannot tolerate that.
The Armenian nation will never forgive that.
I officially announce that as of today we suspend diplomatic relations and all official contacts with Hungary. We expect a precise and unambiguous response by all our partners with regard to this incident.”
On September 1, U.S. National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor stated:
“U.S. President Barack Obama is deeply concerned by today’s announcement that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his return from Hungary. Safarov confessed to the murder of Armenian Army officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in 2004, and was serving a life sentence in Hungary for this brutal crime.
We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment about the decision to pardon Safarov. This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote reconciliation. The United States is also requesting an explanation from Hungary regarding its decision to transfer Safarov to Azerbaijan.”
In the following days, Safarov’s extradition and amnesty were condemned by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, and other high-ranking officials.
On September 2, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Robert Bradtke, Igor Popov, and Jacques Faure in Paris and said that the international community should not tolerate the continuation of Azerbaijan’s adventurous policy under the guise of the negotiation process.
“The only issue on the agenda of the meeting was the situation created as a result of the shameful Hungarian-Azerbaijani deal to release the murderer Ramil Safarov, with all its negative consequences not only on the entire negotiation process, but on peace, stability and security in the region,” the Foreign Ministry said.
On September 2, Hungary expressed a complaint to Azerbaijan. According to the Hungarian newspaper Nepszabadsag, the note of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry stated, in particular, that Baku’s decision “contradicts the atmosphere of trust formed between the two countries.”
Hungarian sources also published the letter of the Deputy Minister of Justice of Azerbaijan, in which he had assured the Hungarian authorities that Ramil Safarov would continue to serve his sentence in his homeland after his extradition.
Incumbent Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, wrote in a column published on September 3, 2012:
“In a number of internal political discussions, people try to see Hungary or Azerbaijan as the main culprit. Meanwhile, taking into account the anarchic situation of international relations, the main responsibility of the created situation falls on Armenia. The question arises - which structures in Armenia are responsible for the created situation. According to the Constitution, the government develops and implements Armenia’s foreign policy along with the President of the Republic.
The government should have been able to prevent such an outcome together with the president. In fact, Hungary and Azerbaijan have done everything that, according to them, was in the interests of their countries. However, Armenia could not prevent Safarov’s extradition, and the main actions of the state system took place only after Safarov’s extradition.”
In his “Safarov’s case - Black Week for Caucasus” article, Tom de Waal, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, warned:
“This conflict is not “frozen” at all, despite popular opinion. The soft mediation efforts of Russia, France and the USA have not yet moved the parties from their irreconcilable positions. And Safarov’s such reception in Baku implies that the situation is going towards war rather than peace. It can still be stopped, but diplomatic efforts must be made immediately.”
In an exclusive interview with Mediamax, Kinga Göncz, who held the position of Foreign Minister of Hungary in 2006-2009, said that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban “personally decided” about extraditing Safaraov:
“Prime Minister Orban advertises his policy of ‘opening to the East,’ meaning turning away from European values and avoiding any kind of outside control over his government. He tries to find other sources than the IMF to finance the budget deficit and no price seems to be too high for it.”
On September 12 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that “Hungary knew very well that Safarov will not serve his sentence in Azerbaijan and stressed that “the political correctness” towards Baku became the reason for Azerbaijan’s “cynical behavior.”
“On various occasions we have always warned our colleagues that statements in official documents distorting the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are very dangerous, first of all because they promote the strengthening of Azerbaijan’s destructive position,” Serzh Sargsyan was saying.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev spoke about the issue only on October 9:
“It was a very correct decision, and if I had known even then that the Armenians and their patrons would make such noise, I would have pardoned Ramil Safarov anyway.
Azerbaijan has returned its officer to the homeland. That’s the most important thing. I don’t care what Armenians say. I do not care what their patrons say, I do not attach importance to those statements, and none of those baseless accusations against Azerbaijan have remained unanswered. Unfortunately, the European Parliament adopted an anti-Azerbaijani resolution for the second time. Azerbaijani Milli Mejlis gave them a worthy answer. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe is a person who should be a defender of humanity and human rights.
In previous years, the Council of Europe, under the pretext of humanitarian principles, forced our state to pardon people who committed crimes. Ramil Safarov remained in custody for about nine years, that is, his pardon is fully justified from moral, political and legal points of view. But what do we see? Again we see the policy of double standards. I say with confidence that if an Armenian officer killed an Azerbaijani officer, there would not be such a noise.”
Nikol Pashinyan, who was elected Prime Minister as a result of the change of power in 2018, also presented the extradition of Ramil Safarov and his pardon as proof of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy.
Thus, in January 2020, in his address on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku, he specifically said:
“Over the last three decades we witnessed the attempt to annihilate the population of Artsakh, the release and glorification of convicted murderer Rafil Safarov, and the cruel torture and murder of defenseless elderly people in a border village in Artsakh in April 2016.”
Half a year later, in June 2020, Nikol Pashinyan said that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were determined to build their own future and stood ready to defend their security by responding adequately to any encroachment. According to the statement of the Armenian government’s press service, Nikol Pashinyan made the remark during the Eastern Partnership Summit’s videoconference on June 18, responding to the statement by the President of Azerbaijan.
The news release noted that “Nikol Pashinyan underlined the racist policy pursued by Azerbaijan’s authorities, citing the campaign of glorifying Ramil Safarov, who killed with an axe Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in his sleep, in Hungary.”
Three months later, the war began. During that time, “letters from citizens” were published on the website of the President of Azerbaijan that supported Ilham Aliyev’s “promising domestic and foreign policy.”
One of the letters was written by Sahib Safarov, Ramil Safarov’s father:
“When my son was pardoned in 2012 and returned to Azerbaijan from Hungary, some countries and international organizations again showed a biased, one-sided position. Despite all this, you proved to the whole world that the state stands behind its officer and citizen, regardless of his place of residence. The state, people and army of Azerbaijan are able to liberate their historical lands from occupation. On behalf of the Safarov family and the entire Azerbaijani people, we express our deep gratitude to you, our glorious army, for liberating our native Jebrayil from the Armenian occupation after 27 years,” the murderer’s father wrote.
“On the 1st of December 2022 Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary held a meeting on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Łódź. Following the meeting, the ministers issued a joint statement, saying that Yerevan and Budapest agreed to restore full diplomatic relations, “expressing their intention to open a new chapter in their relations based on mutual trust and respect towards international law.”
Ara Tadevosyan
