ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS CONVINCED THAT RAMIL SAFAROV’S VERDICT WILL
REMAIN UNCHANGED
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. At the April 14
press briefing representatives of RA NA groups and factions gave
assurance that if the verdict of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov,
who killed Armenian Officer Gurgen Margarian with an axe in 2004
February in Budapest, is appealed against, it will be left
unchanged. To recap, by the April 13 verdict Budapest city court
sentenced Safarov to the strictest punishment of that country: life
imprisonment without the right of amnesty during the first 30
years. The Armenian parliamentarians also expressed an opinion that
after the verdict’s coming into force it is improbable that the
murderer will be delivered to Azerbaijan for the purpose of serving
his punishment. According to Rafik Petrosian, member of the People’s
Deputy MP group, Chairman of NA Standing Committee on State and Legal
Issues, Doctor of law, at present the possibility of delivering
Safarov to Azerbaijan is excluded due to lack of any agreement on
extradition between Hungary and Azerbaijan. According to him,
Azerbaijan in the future can try to achieve signing of such an
agreement with Hungary but “Armenia on its part will undertake some
measures for this not to take place” as to deliver Safarov to
Azerbaijan will mean “that he will serve no punishment”. R.Petrosian
also explained that usually bilateral agreements are not retroactive
in the international practice.