Tuesday, May 26 2020 21:45

ArmInfo.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan commented on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights of May 26 this year in the case of Makuchyan and Minasyan v. Azerbaijan and Hungary.

According to APA, the head of the press service of the Foreign  Ministry, Leyla Abdullayeva, said that they had familiarized  themselves with the relevant decision of the European Court of Human  Rights, but for a more qualified comment, it is necessary for lawyers  to familiarize themselves with the verdict.

At the same time, for no reason, she touched the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict, accusing Armenia of distorting its causes and in an attempt  to distract the attention of the international community from the  ongoing alleged occupation.

Abdulaeva did not stop there, and accused Yerevan of intent to turn  the European Court into <an instrument of a vilifying campaign  against Azerbaijan, politicize this structure and involve it in a  propaganda campaign>, which should be rejected.

And finally, referring specifically to the decision of the ECHR in  the case with respect to the murderer of the Armenian officer Ramil  Safarov, Abdulaev assured that the court did not actually satisfy the  main claim of Armenia. <So, a court decision does not require the  annulment of a pardon decree, which is the main subject of the  proceedings, or a retrial of the case against the person concerned.  On the other hand, the claim for a material violation of the right to  residence was also rejected>, the representative of the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan concluded.

It should be noted that the ECHR today issued a verdict on the  statement of the successors of the hacked- off Armenian officer  Gurgen Margaryan against Azerbaijan and Hungary on the extradition  and release of the murderer Ramil Safarov. According to the decision  of the ECHR, published on the court's website, Azerbaijan violated  the Convention by releasing the extracted officer Safarov. The report  of the Court also notes that the case concerns not only the release  of the extradited prisoner, but also his heroization.  Meanwhile, in  the private actions of Safarov there were egregious manifestations of  violence that were not characteristic of a military officer.  According to the court, Azerbaijan violated its obligations to ensure  a proper decision of the Hungarian court. In conclusion, the ECHR  decided to pay Azerbaijan to the applicants (successors of Margaryan)  in compensation and legal costs 15,143.33 pounds. At the same time,  the ECHR did not see any violations by Hungary, which extradited  Safarov to Azerbaijan. The decision noted that in Budapest they could  not know that Safarov would be released immediately upon arrival at  home.

Recall that on February 19, 2004, the lieutenant of the Armenian  army, Gurgen Margaryan, who was sent to Budapest for English courses  as part of the NATO Partnership for Peace program, was brutally  slaughtered with an ax by an Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, a  participant in the same courses. On April 13, 2006, the Budapest  trial court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without the right  to pardon for 30 years. On August 31, 2012, Azerbaijani officer Ramil  Safarov, sentenced to life in prison in Hungary, was extradited to  his homeland. On the same day, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev  signed a decree on his pardon. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan  paid the killer a salary that had accumulated over the entire time  that he had been in custody (more than eight years), provided him  with an apartment, and also awarded him the rank of major. In  connection with the extradition of Safarov, Armenia suspended  diplomatic relations and all official ties with Hungary.