Hungarian court to ignore signatures gathered by pressure group – Azeri
expert
Ekho, Baku
19 Nov 04
Text of R. Tofiqoglu report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 19
November headlined “100,000 signatures in support of Ramil Safarov”
and subheaded “In the view of lawyers, the action of the Karabakh
Liberation Organization was meaningless”
The Karabakh Liberation Organization [KLO] has said that it sent an
appeal with 100,000 signatures to the Budapest city court on 16
November to support a defendant, Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov.
The trial is to take place on 23 November. It is said that the appeal
was signed by people living in Baku, Ganca, Sumqayit, Sabirabad,
Lankaran, Barda, Saki, Saatli, Imisli and other towns of
Azerbaijan. The document expresses the hope that the investigation
carried out by the Hungarian law-enforcement bodies and the trial
itself will both be fair. It also urges that any pressure from the
Armenian lobby be ignored.
The KLO also hopes that the appeal signed by 100,000 people will catch
the attention of the Hungarian judiciary. “Moreover, we believe that
your ruling will help to strengthen friendship, cooperation and mutual
trust between Azerbaijan and Hungary,” the appeal said.
However, lawyers are sure that the step taken by the KLO will have no
significant impact on the ruling of the Budapest court. I did not
advise the KLO members to send such an appeal, lawyer Adil Ismayilov,
who represents the interests of the Safarov family, has told Ekho in a
telephone conversation from Budapest. “But they did what they did and
there is nothing I can say about that,” he said.
Meanwhile, well-known lawyer Erkin Gadirov shares the view of his
colleague. “I can only confirm that the opinion of Ismayilov is
correct. He is absolutely right: the appeal can have no positive
influence on the court’s ruling. I hope that it will not have a
negative impact.” In principle, such actions carry no judicial
significance, Gadirov said.
“The signatures can have no procedural significance for the judges. At
any rate, even if a Hungarian judge somehow receives the document, as
a judge he has to ignore it. Judges take decisions on the basis of
their country’s laws, whereas the signatories are unable to act as
proof of something,” the expert said.