ArmInfo. Armenian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement related to the ECHR ruling in the case of "Makuchyan and Minasyan vs Azerbaijan and Hungary. As the press service of the Ministry informs the statement reads as follows.
''Today, on May 26, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of "Makuchyan and Minasyan vs Azerbaijan and Hungary," which is related to the release and glorification by Azerbaijan of Ramil Safarov, who brutally killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan.
In 2004, in Budapest the Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, who was participating in a training course within the framework "Partnership for Peace" programme, murdered Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan while he was asleep by axing him to death and attacked another Armenian officer Hayk Makuchyan. Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hungarian court, was transferred to Azerbaijan, where enforcement of the sentence should have been continued. However, immediately after the transfer Ramil Safarov was pardoned and glorified. In this regard the ruling stated: "The court is particularly struck by the fact that, in addition to immediate release, upon his return to Azerbaijan R.S. was granted a number of other benefits, such as salary arrears for the period spent in prison, a flat in Baku and a promotion in military rank awarded at a public ceremony."
The court has found violations of the 2nd (right to life) and 14th (non- discrimination) articles of the European Convention on Human rights by Azerbaijan.
Its noteworthy that the ruling determined that the violation of those articles was interrelated, thus establishing that the impunity and glorification granted by the highest leadership of Azerbaijan to Ramil Safarov, who was convicted in the brutal murder on the grounds of hatred, had a causing link to the ethnicity of the victims.
This ECHR decision is a ruling against Azerbaijan's policy of Armenophobia. It not only recognizes, but also adjudicates on the inadmissibility of the promotion on the state level of hate crimes committed against the Armenians by Azerbaijan.
The ruling imposes a legal obligation to Azerbaijan to undertake such actions which will put an end to those violations of the European Convention of Human Rights and redress the effects. The Republic of Armenia views this ruling of the ECHR as a demand addressed to the authorities of Azerbaijan to restore justice in the dreadful murder of Gurgen Margaryan and end its racist policy towards Armenians. To this end, the Republic of Armenia will make consistent efforts in the relevant international bodies.
The release of convicted murderer Ramil Safarov by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan and his glorification is a disrespect and affront to the standard of civilization and human dignity. Today, when those actions received their legal assessment, we more than ever are determined to prevent hate crimes and protect the security of the Armenian people in the region. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve a peaceful and secure region free of hatred.
It should be noted that on May 26 the ECHR issued a ruling on the statement of the successors of the killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in relation to 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 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 that Azerbaijan must pay to the applicants (Margaryan's successors) a compensation and legal costs amounting to 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.
To note, official Baku has already responded to this verdict of the ECHR. The spokeswoman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that the court did not actually satisfy the main claim of Armenia. "So, the court's decision does not require the annulment of the decree on pardon, which is the main object of the proceedings, or the re-examination of the case against the relevant person. On the other hand, the claim for material violation of the right to reside was also rejected," the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan concluded.