Armenia severed all diplomatic ties with Hungary on Friday after Azeri soldier Ramil Sahib Safarov, who was serving a life sentence in Hungary for killing an Armenian soldier in Budapest in 2004, was extradited to his home country where he was pardoned by the President. Safarov’s release outraged Armenians who blamed Budapest for “selling" the killer to Azerbaijan, knowing he would not be imprisoned there. Hungary flatly refuses allegations that it had made any such deal, claiming it had done everything according to international law.
Armenia broke off diplomatic ties with Hungary after Lt. Ramil Safarov sentenced to life in prison here for killing Armenian officer Lt. Gurgen Markarian was sent home on Friday and, despite assurances, immediately pardoned and freed.
Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the Budapest City Court after he confessed to killing Markarian with an axe in his sleep in his dormitory room while both were in Hungary for a 2004 NATO language course.
Safarov claimed he killed Markarian because he had provoked and ridiculed him and because he wanted revenge for Azeris killed during the 1988-1994 war between the ex-Soviet states over the disputed mountanaious territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“My conscience was clouded as a result of the insults and humiliating and provoking behavior, and I lost all control," Safarov told the court in April 2006.
Armenian government forces helped Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist rebels drive the Azeri army out of the region and several other adjacent Azeri districts. Baku and Yerevan are still technically at war over the region.
The sentenced murderer was welcomed home as a hero on Friday and pardoned by Azeri president Ilham Aliyev. On Saturday he was reinstated in the army and promoted to the rank of major.
Diplomatic ties cut off, Obama “deeply concerned"
In response to Safarov’s release, Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said his country was cutting diplomatic ties with Hungary. Protesters in the Armenian capital of Yerevan threw tomatoes at the building housing Hungary’s honorary consulate and the tore down the Hungarian flag, Hungarian state news agency MTI reported.
Sarkisian said Armenia was “halting diplomatic relations and all official ties with Hungary."
The White House also criticized the decision to free Safarov.
“President Obama is deeply concerned by today’s announcement that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his return from Hungary," said a statement from National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor.
“We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment about the decision to pardon Safarov. This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote reconciliation. The United States is also requesting an explanation from Hungary regarding its decision to transfer Safarov to Azerbaijan."
Hungary protests
Zsolt Németh, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asked Vilayat Guliyev, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Hungary, into his office on 2 September to inform Ambassador Guliyev about the position of the Government of Hungary.
“Hungary considers it unacceptable and expresses utter disapproval at the fact that Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced for manslaughter by Hungarian court, received pardon from the President of Azerbaijan," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Németh pointed out that the measures made by Azerbaijan are “contrary to the relevant rules of international law and blatantly contradict the promise officially confirmed by Azerbaijan earlier that Safarov would continue to serve his sentence in Azerbaijan."
“The steps taken by the Azeri party are not appropriate with respect to the relation of mutual trust that has developed between our countries over the past years, and which could serve to further improve our bilateral cooperation," he added.
The Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over the following diplomatic note to the Ambassador of Azerbaijan:
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary presents its compliments to the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Budapest and has the honour to communicate the following.
“The Government of Hungary was astonished to receive the news about the decision of the Azerbaijani side granting pardon to Ramil Sahib Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter in 2006.
“Hungary refuses to accept and condemns the action of Azerbaijan, which contradicts the relevant rules of international law and sharply contrasts the undertaking of the Azerbaijani side in this matter, confirmed by the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan in his letter XX-NBSKFO/3743/4/2012 of 15 August 2012 addressed to the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of Hungary.
“In this letter the Republic of Azerbaijan quoting the relevant international Convention undertook that the sentenced person will serve the remaining part of his prison sentence in the Republic of Azerbaijan and may be released on conditional parole only after he has served at least 25 years of his sentence.
“Hungary regards the decision of Azerbaijan inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation based on mutual trust that has been achieved during the past years between our respective countries.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Budapest the assurances of its highest considerations."
A regular extradition case
State secretary for foreign policy and economy at the Prime Minister's Office Péter Szijjártó told public television MTV late on Sunday that there is no connection between the case and a possible purchase of Hungarian debt by Azerbaijan. He also revealed that Safarov’s case had been raised during Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Baku in June.
Szijjártó said Safarov’s extradition had been raised by Azerbaijan during the PM’s June visit to Baku, but Budapest insisted that this was “an issue of international law with clear regulations."
“That is why we asked the Azeri party to follow the rules in everything. We promised that Hungary will naturally also conduce a procedure in line with international legislation if it receives an Azeri initiative," he added.
Szijjártó emphasised that every detail of Hungary’s actions were in line with the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons by the Council of Europe (1983).
Safarov’s legal representative had requested that his client spends his sentence in Azerbaijan. Then the Justice Minister - in line with the regulations of the extradition treaty - requested information at Azeri authorities and learned that Safarov would have received a life sentence for his crime also in his homeland and that Azerbaijan would keep him in prison.
Szijjártó noted that there are 8-12 such extradition cases every year in Hungary, adding that this is a “usual procedure of international law; there’s nothing extraordinary in it and everything was done accordingly in this case too."
Oil billions and extradition: no connection
When asked about a possible connection between Safarov’s extradition and Azerbaijan’s possible purchase of Hungarian bonds, Szijjártó responded that there is no connection whatsoever.
On 23 August, Hungarian Weekly Figyelő claimed a foreign currency bond issue was taking shape and might happen with Azerbaijan as a lender before Hungary has an agreement with the EU and the IMF in place.
Azerbaijan is looking to buy Hungarian government bonds of 2 to 3 year maturity, on a scale of EUR 2 to 3 billion, the paper learned from an Economy Ministry source.
László Borbély, deputy CEO of the Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK), argued the reason why no FX bond issue is expected before the IMF deal is that Hungary will be in a better position to secure finance at a lower interest rate afterwards.
Borbély told daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet last week that talks between the two countries about a possible purchase by Azerbaijan of up to EUR 3 billion in Hungarian bonds were only at an "exploratory phase" for now.
“[...] a lot of people have a wild imagination, but the fact is that a cut and dry international legal case and the economic co-operation of two countries have no influence whatsoever on one another," Szijjártó said.
Secret talks?
Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign relations department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, told Newtimes.az in an interview on 1 September that “steps to extradite Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan were taken in a completely closed environment. Secret talks have been held under the serious control of President of Azerbaijan for about a year."
He noted that President Ilham Aliyev “supervised the negotiations between the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan and Hungary for a long time."
“A crucial role in the resolution of this issue belonged to an agreement reached during the visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban," Mammadov was cited as saying.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (l) during his visit to Baku in June 2012 with Azeri President Ilham Alyev (r). Photo from: Viktor Orbán’s Facebook page.
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