EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton and Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Commissioner Štefan Füle have voiced concern at the news that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov, who had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Armenian Army officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in 2004.
"In the interest of regional stability and on-going efforts towards reconciliation," the statement said, "the High Representative and Commissioner Füle reiterated their call on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise restraint, on the ground as well as in public statements, in order to prevent an escalation of the situation."
Ramil Safarov was transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan on 31 August following an Azerbaijani request, in the framework of the Convention of Strasbourg on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons of 21 March 1983, to serve the rest of his sentence. EU representatives are in contact with the relevant authorities and will continue to follow the situation closely, the statement said.
