Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 2 2004

Armenians vow to prevent Azeri officer’s extradition after trial

Nazeli Vartanian, defense lawyer of Armenian serviceman Gurgen
Markarian, who was murdered by an Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov
in Budapest in 2003, and employee of the Armenian Defense Minister
Hayk Demoian held a news conference in the Hungarian capital on
Tuesday.
The two said that Safarov may be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in jail
or life imprisonment under the second provision of Article 166
(murder or murder attempt) of the Hungarian Criminal Code.
`The Azerbaijani side tries to extradite Safarov but we will make
every effort to prevent his hand-over to Azerbaijan,’ the speakers
said.
Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, an officer in the Azerbaijan Army, who was
attending courses in Budapest, murdered his Armenian counterpart
Markarian in a state of affect after the latter used foul language
against the Azerbaijani people, martyrs and the national flag.
The pre-trial hearing held in Budapest on November 25 decided to hold
the Azerbaijani officer’s trial on February 8, 2005.
Hungarian Ombudsman Barnabas Lenkovich, who attended the third
international conference of Ombudsmen in Baku on November 29-30, did
not rule out that the trial of Safarov may be prolonged for another
18 months under the country’s relevant laws.*