Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan

YEREVAN (Public Radio of Armenia) — Armenian Officer Gurgen Margaryan was murdered in Hungary on this day twelve years ago.

On February 19, 2004 Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan was hacked to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani participant, Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace program.

In 2006, Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment in Hungary with a minimum incarceration period of 30 years. He was extradited on August 31, 2012 to Azerbaijan where he was greeted as a hero, pardoned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev despite contrary assurances made to Hungary, promoted to the rank of major and given an apartment and over eight years of back pay.

Following Safarov’s pardon, Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary.

The Governments of Azerbaijan and Hungary have been asked by the European Court of Human Rights to respond formally to a case brought by the relatives of Armenian army officer Gurgen Margaryan.

Just recently, on February 2, the ECHUR began communication and sent a request to the governments of Azerbaijan and Hungary in the case of the extradition to Azerbaijan and the early release of Safarov.

The two governments should send replies to Strasbourg until May 12, haqqin.az reports.

The interests of the relatives of Margaryan are presented by the European Human Rights Advocacy Center and Legal Guide Armenian NGO. The complaint requires to acknowledge the release and glorification of Ramil Safarov as a violation of human rights. The complaint was sent to the ECHR in 2013.