NAZELI VARDANIAN: HUNGARIAN COURT OF APPEAL WON’T COMMUTE VERDICT ON RAMIL SAFAROV

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 19 2006

“I don’t believe Hungarian Court of Appeal will commute the life
sentence on Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov.

This court will never meet the appeal for commuting the punishment,”
said lawyer Nazeli Vardanian, who represents the family of murdered
Armenian officer Gurgen Markarian, in a news conference. He said
that the Court of Appeal can only investigate whether there were
any illegalities in the court proceedings against the Azerbaijani
lieutenant. Vardanian said that the court dismissed Safarov’s claim
that he was driven to this act by the events he witnessed during the
occupation of Azerbaijan’s region of Jabrail region by Armenians.

“The court investigation found out that Ramil Safarov was not in
Jabrail at that time and did not witness the events,” the Armenian
lawyer said.

Vardanian also said that the prosecutor Margit Chokain reacted severely
to Ramil Safarov’s being declared as Man of the Year in Azerbaijan.

“The prosecutor said that he has never met a country and a nation to
declare such murderer as a prestigious figure,” he underlined.

Legal representative of Ramil Safarov’s family, lawyer Adil Ismayilov
told APA that the Armenian lawyer Vardanian’s statements are nonsense.

“Prosecutor Margit Chokain did not say such sentence on Azerbaijan
state and people. These statements were voiced by the lawyer for
Armenian side not by the prosecutor. Armenians try to make public
their opinions on behalf of the prosecutor,” Ismayilov underscored.

Adil Ismayilov also refuted Vardanian’s statements that the fact
as if Ramil Safarov was not in Jabrail during its occupation was
confirmed by the court. He said such fact was not confirmed by the
court at all.