LAWYER RULES OUT EXTRADITION OF SAFAROV

Armenpress
Nov 15 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: Nazeli Vardanian, an Armenian lawyer
who defended the interests of the family of an Armenian officer,
Gurgen Margarian, who was killed by an Azeri counterpart in Budapest
in 2004, ruled out that Safarov, sentenced to life imprisonment by
a Hungarian court, may be extradited to Azerbaijan.

Her remarks come after a report by Azerbaijani news agencies which
quoted a member of Hungarian Constitutional Court as saying during
a visit to Baku that the Safarov may be sent to Baku to serve his
term there.

Nazeli Vardanian said a member of Hungarian Constitutional Court is
not in a position to refer to this case.

Mrs. Vardanian said extradition was ruled out. She also said the
Hungarian Court of Appeals has not yet considered an appeal lodged
by Safarov and his lawyer.

Safarov is being accused also of inciting a squabble with prison
guards where he is kept. She said there was no precedent in Hungary
that a prisoner sentenced to serve life in jail was extradited to
another country.

In February of 2004, while attending a NATO Partnership for Peace
program, Safarov was arrested by Hungarian police for the murder of
Armenian fellow participant Lieutenant Gurgen Margarian . Margarian
had been hacked to death with an axe and a knife.

In addition to Margarian’s murder, Safarov had attempted to murder
captain Hayk Makuchyan, another Armenian officer. A Budapest policeman
commented that the murder had been conducted "with unusual cruelty,"
adding: "beside a number of knife wounds on his chest, the victim’s
head was practically severed from his body."

On April 13th 2006 the Budapest court judge Andras Vaskuti sentenced
Ramil Safarov to life imprisonment (the harshest punishment in Hungary)
without the right of parole for 30 years.