Armenian politicians welcome Hungarian verdict

Mediamax news agency
14 Apr 06

Yerevan, 14 April: Political forces represented in the Armenian
parliament unanimously welcomed today the verdict by a Hungarian court
to sentence to life imprisonment Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov,
who brutally killed Armenian officer Gurgen Markaryan in February
2004.

The leader of the United Labor Party, Gurgen Arsenyan, described the
verdict as “fair”. He said that “the Azerbaijani authorities are
trying to secure Safarov’s return to Baku. “The MP pointed out that if
this happens, the Hungarian side, as well as NATO will bear the
responsibility for Safarov’s extradition, because Markaryan and
Safarov participated in the English language training course in
Budapest within the framework of NATO Partnership for Peace Program.

The secretary of the opposition National Union faction, Aleksan
Karapetyan, thanked the Hungarian court for the verdict. He said that
Armenia should make every effort, in order not to allow Safarov’s
extradition to the fatherland, as it will mean “the release of the
criminal offender”.

The leader of the Dashnaktsutyun faction, Levon Lazarian, criticized
the Azerbaijani authorities for their attempts to present Ramil
Safarov as a hero, but the secretary of the Justice faction, Viktor
Dallakyan, expressed confidence that the Hungarian High Court will not
change the verdict.