ARMENIAN LAWYER CALLS IMPOSSIBLE THE DEMAND OF AZERBAIJANI MURDERER-OFFICER’S ADVOCATES FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE COURT COMPOSITION
Yerevan, April 11. ArmInfo. The “advocates” of the Azerbaijani
murderer-officer Ramil Safarov demand replacement of the composition
of the court on the eve of the verdict announcement fixed for April
13, Azerbaijani agency APA reports. The Committee for protection of
R.Safarov’s Rights NGO demand a cancellation of the forthcoming court
session. They also demand sending a group of parliamentarians and
journalists to Hungary to achieve Safarov’s extradition irrespective
of the verdict.
In a phone conversation with ArmInfo, the lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan,
who represents the legal successors of the killed Armenian officer G.
Margaryan at the court, called the demand on replacement of the court
composition impossible at present. The lawyer believes the NGO’s
assemblies will not affect the proceedings. She says the Azerbaijani
party keeps misinforming the public. It’s worth mentioning that the
Azerbaijani party made public that the Prosecution had demanded
30 years of imprisonment for R. Safavor, whereas in reality, the
prosecution demanded life imprisonment without the right of pardon
for 30 years. N. Vardanyan says “if the Azerbaijani party intended to
challenge the judge, it should have been done by the lawyer and not
at present. They had enough time for it as the trial last for already
two years,” N. Vardanyan says. She says that due to his lawyer, who
tried to prove Safarov’s insanity, the latter occurred in rather a
ridiculous state. Now, he has to either prove his insanity or the
“appropriateness” of his deed, which will even aggravate his state.
To note, on February 19 2004, R. Safarov viciously axed the asleep G.
Margaryan in Budapest. Both the officers were undergoing an English
language course under the NATO PfP program. Safarov is charged with
Article 166.2 of the Hungarian Criminal Code ( first degree murder )
implying 10-15 years or life imprisonment. Chairing the trial is
the judge Andrash Vaskuti. Armenian and Hungarian lawyers Nazeli
Vardanyan and Gabriela Kaspar defend the interests of Margaryan’s
family and Hayk Makuchyan, Armenian officer whose life was attempted
by Safarov. Representative of the Armenian Defense Ministry Hayk
Demoyan attends the trial.