ARMENIA OFFERS BOUNTY FOR AZERI OFFICER’S LIFE

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
March 9 2006

A hard-line group has urged the Hungarian court to ensure the security
of an Azeri officer accused of killing an Armenian serviceman at a
NATO course in Budapest in 2004.

The chairman of the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) has sent a
petition to the Budapest City Court and some Hungarian media requesting
security guarantees for Ramil Safarov. “We have repeatedly stated
that when Safarov was committing the killing, his mind was clouded
with revenge for the crimes the Armenian armed forces had unleashed
on peaceful Azerbaijani population. Armenia is trying to affect the
course of legal proceedings.

The chairman of the Armenian Progress Party, Tigran Urikhanyan,
reportedly offered a $125,000 reward to anyone who kills Safarov,”
the GLO said. The appeal termed this as a graphic example of the
Armenian government’s terrorist essence. The Armenian leadership
is even trying to have Safarov killed in the Budapest prison,
therefore, it is necessary to take extra precautions and provide
for his security. Azerbaijan has been left to deal with a terrorist
state, the document said. “Another fact we would like to point out
is the trial of Armenian Lt-Col Pargev Abramian currently underway
in Yerevan. He is charged with dismembering his wife with an axe. The
defense claims that he has committed the crime in a state of emotional
distress,” the GLO said, urging the Hungarian court to be mindful of
these facts when handing down a ruling.