Armenia's National Assembly is convening a special session to discuss the extradition of Azerbaijani soldier Ramil Safarov by Hungary and his subsequent pardoning by Azerbaijan.
Artak Zakaryan, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, lawmaker from the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), read out the NA statement condemning Hungary's decision to extradite the Azerbaijani murderer and reminding that Armenia had severed diplomatic relations with Hungary.
"With its step, Azerbaijan again threatens the regional security, deepens hostility towards Armenians and violates human rights guaranteed by international documents," he read.
Mr. Zakaryan said that during the elaboration of the document, the authors considered the proposals of all parliamentary factions, as well as the alternative versions proposed by them.
Vahan Hovhannisyan, head of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun faction, suggested making changes in the statement. In particular, he stressed that Hungary cannot be blamed for not ensuring safety of the Armenian officer during the murder.
"We have not blamed Hungary for eight years and today it is somewhat artificial to raise such a question," he said.
Artsvik Minasyan, MP of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun, urged his fellow colleagues to turn to the NATO since the While attending English courses during the NATO-sponsored Partnership for PEACE program in Hungary (2004), the Azeri army officer Ramil Safarov (35) snuck into the bedroom of his Armenian colleague lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan (26) and murdered him during sleep with several axe blows to the head and neck. Safarov had struck Markaryan 16 times with an axe, almost decapitating him. Following the murder he had walked over to another Armenian officer's room, hoping to commit a second murder, but had found his door locked. Safarov was found guilty of premeditated murder, and was sentenced to life in prison in April 2006, with possibility of parole after 30 years.
Ruben Hakobyan, Head of the Heritage faction, said during the working consultation he had suggested including the issue of Karabakh independence in the text as well.
"We are not here to discuss that issue," said Artak Zakaryan.
During the discussions, Eduard Sharmazanov, Vice-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, said on July 4 HHK MP Ruben Hayrapetyan submitted a letter of resignation to the National Assembly and if he does not withdraw his resignation within 15 days, it will be accepted.
The special session was attended by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan and Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan.
While attending English courses during the NATO-sponsored Partnership for PEACE program in Hungary in 2004, Azeri army officer Ramil Safarov, 35, snuck into the bedroom of his Armenian colleague lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan , 26, and murdered him during sleep with several axe blows to the head and neck. Safarov had struck Markaryan 16 times with an axe, almost decapitating him. Following the murder he had walked over to another Armenian officer's room, hoping to commit a second murder, but had found his door locked. Safarov was found guilty of premeditated murder, and was sentenced to life in prison by a Hungarian court in April 2006, with possibility of parole after 30 years. On august 31, 2012, Hungary extradited Safarov to Azerbaijan where he was pardoned on the same day by [President] Ilham Aliyev.
