Yerevan: ECHR decision is a ruling against Azerbaijan`s policy of  Armenophobia

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.