Ramil Safarov

Early life

Ramil Safarov was born on August 25, 1977 in the town of Jabrayil, former Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic of Soviet Union (now Nagorno Karabakh Republic) where he finished middle school. He is one of four brothers. Jabrayil was captured by Armenian forces on August 26, 1993, and remains under control of Nagorno-Karabakh army as part of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Safarov's family fled to Baku in 1991. During a court hearing, Safarov recounted memories from the years of war, during which he had lost family members. This, however, contradicted another version he told the court, where he stated that he was studying in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku and in Turkey from 1992 to 1996. He continued his studies at Maltepe Military High School in İzmir and then at the Turkish Military Academy, graduating in 2000, after which he returned to Azerbaijan.

Budapest murder

In January 2004, the 26-year-old Ramil Safarov, along with another officer from Azerbaijan, went to Budapest (Hungary), to participate in the three-month English language courses, organized by NATO's Partnership for Peace program for military personnel from different countries. Two Armenian officers, a 25-year-old Gurgen Margaryan and Hayk Makuchyan, also participated in this program.

On the evening of February 18, Safarov bought an axe and a honing stone at Tesco, near Ferenc Puskás Stadium. He took them in the bag to his dormitory room at the Zrinyi Miklos National Defence University, where all the course participants were staying. Safarov's roommate had returned to his native Ukraine to attend the funerals of his relatives and so nobody interrupted Safarov as he sharpened the axe in his room. At around 5:00 am on February 19 Safarov took the axe and went to Margaryan's room, which he was sharing with his Hungarian roommate, Balázs Kuti. The door of their room was not locked. Safarov attacked the sleeping Margaryan with the axe and delivered 16 blows to his body, which almost severed Margaryan’s head. The noises woke up Kuti, who was shocked seeing the Azerbaijani officer standing by Gurgen’s bed with a long axe in his hands. As Kuti later testified, “By that time I understood that something terrible had happened for there was blood all around. I started to shout at the Azerbaijani urging him to stop it. He said that he had no problems with me and would not touch me, stabbed Gurgen a couple of more times and left. The expression of his face was as if he was glad he had finished something important. Greatly shocked, I ran out of the room to find help, and Ramil went in another direction”.

Afterwards, Safarov headed for the room of Makuchyan, the other Armenian student, with the intention of attacking him also, but found his door locked. He shouted out Makuchyan’s name in a threatening voice. The half-sleeping Makuchyan wanted to open the door, but his Lithuanian roommate stopped him and called his compatriot next door to check what was going on. Meanwhile, Safarov went to look for Hayk in the room of the Serbian and the Ukrainian roommates, showing them the blood-stained axe and stating that he thirsted for nobody's blood but Armenian.

Safarov then attempted to break the door with the axe, but, by this time, the students in the neighboring rooms already woke up, went out to the corridor and tried to persuade him to stop. Later the eyewitnesses confessed that they were afraid to approach Ramil with a blood-stained axe closer than at three meters.

Soon after, the Hungarian police, which was summoned by Balázs Kuti, arrived and arrested Safarov at the scene. A Hungarian court later found that it was an attempt on Makuchyan’s life and recognized the latter also as a victim. While announcing the verdict the judge particularly emphasized that if Safarov had not been restrained by his fellow officers he would have killed the second Armenian officer as well.

Interrogation and trial

During his initial interrogation Safarov confessed to killing Margaryan and his intention to kill Makuchyan. Questioned about his motives during the interrogation, Safarov stated:

I regret that I hadn't killed any Armenian before this. The army sent me to this training and here I learnt that two Armenians were taking the same course with us. I must say that hatred against Armenians grew inside me. In the beginning we were greeting each other, or rather they said "hi" to me but I didn't respond. The reason why I committed the murder was that they passed by and smiled in our face. At that moment I decided to kill them, i.e. to saw their heads off...

I have been a soldier for 14 years now, but I cannot give an answer whether I would kill if I were a civil person. I haven't thought on the question whether I would kill Armenians if I were civil [sic]. My job is to kill all, because until they live we will suffer.
..
If not here and now, then I would do the same thing any other time and in any other place. If there were more Armenians here I would like to kill all of them. It is a pity this was the first occasion and I hadn't managed to get better prepared for this action... My calling is to kill all the Armenians.

According to Balázs Kuti, at the very beginning of the language courses, when the students got acquainted, there was a conversation about different international issues, but nobody spoke of it afterwards. Kuti also said that he had not noticed any strain in the relationship between Margaryan and the Azerbaijani officers. Makuchyan's neighbor, officer Saulus Paulus also said that he observed nothing strange in the relationship between the Armenian and the Azerbaijani guys. The police afterwards interrogated all the students and all testified that there was no conflict between the Armenian and the Azerbaijani officers and that they did not even interact with each other. Later in an interview to the Armenian newspaper “Iravunk” Hayk Makuchyan confirmed that neither Gurgen nor him had had any contacts with any of the Azerbaijani officers. “They were not of a communicative type. Usually, after classes, they went straight to their rooms”, said Hayk. To the question as to why he chose to attack Margaryan first Safarov answered it was because he was big, muscular and of sportive type.

When the case went to trial Safarov's defense asserted that the murder was committed because Margaryan had insulted the Azerbaijani flag. This explanation later underwent several variations in the press in Azerbaijan and among his defenders. It was claimed that Margaryan and/or Makuchyan had urinated on the Azerbaijani flag; used it to clean and wipe their shoes; and had played an audio recording of "voices of suffering Azerbaijani women and girls." Safarov did not mention any of this in either his interrogation or his court trial and made it very clear he killed Margaryan just because he was an Armenian. No witnesses were ever called during the trial to corroborate these allegations of harassment in court and prosecution lawyers strongly disputed that they had taken place. Despite the lack of evidence the Azerbaijani media, including state-owned media outlets, have circulated the version of the flag for making Safarov a national hero.

The defense also alleged that Safarov was mentally sick when committing the murder, however the forensic medical examination, which was upheld by the judge, showed that "Safarov was sane and aware of the consequences of his act".

On April 13, 2006, a Hungarian court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without right of appeal for 30 years. The judge, Andras Vaskuti, cited the premeditated nature and brutality of the crime and the fact that Safarov showed no remorse for his deeds as the reasons for the sentence. Handing down a life sentence, the judge particularly emphasised that “the murder of a sleeping man in peace time is always a crime and cannot be an act of heroism”. On February 22, 2007, a Hungarian appeal court upheld the ruling following an appeal filed by Safarov's lawyer. While serving his sentence, Safarov translated several novels by Hungarian authors into Azeri, including Magda Szabó's The Door (Hungarian: Az ajtó) and The Paul Street Boys (Hungarian: A Pál utcai fiúk) (youth novel by the Hungarian writer Ferenc Molnár).

Reaction to the murder and the sentence

A lawyer representing the victim's family welcomed the sentence as a "good decision for the Hungarian court and for Armenian society."

Many officials in Azerbaijan publicly praised Safarov's actions, while there were also those who condemned them. Elmira Suleymanova, the human rights commissioner (ombudsman) of Azerbaijan, declared that Safarov's punishment was far too harsh and that "Safarov must become an example of patriotism for the Azerbaijani youth". The banned radical Azerbaijan National Democrat Party awarded Safarov with the title of "Man of the Year 2005" for killing an Armenian.

Fuad Agayev, a prominent Azeri lawyer, said that Azeris "...have to urgently stop this current campaign to raise Safarov to the rank of national hero. He is no hero.”

The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs condemned Azerbaijan's reaction to the brutal murder of the Armenian officer in a hearing. A report which was published by the Committee on Foreign Affairs contained a statement by Bryan Ardouny, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America, who stated that "The Azerbaijani government has also consistently failed to condemn Safarov, an Azeri military officer who in 2003 [sic] brutally murdered an Armenian participant at a NATO Partnership for Peace military training exercise in Budapest, Hungary. Instead, it has encouraged domestic media and various organizations to treat the murderer as a celebrity. That individual has since been awarded the title of 'Man of the Year' by Azerbaijan’s National-Democratic Party."

Safarov's welcome in Azerbaijan

After serving eight years of the life sentence, Safarov was extradited under the framework guidelines of the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and transferred to Azerbaijan on August 31, 2012. Although the Hungarian government stated that it had received assurances from the Azerbaijan government that the remainder of the sentence would be enforced, President Ilham Aliyev issued a pardon immediately upon Safarov's arrival in Baku and ordered that he be "freed from the term of his punishment."

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev promoted Safarov to the rank of major and the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan provided him with an apartment and over eight years of back pay. On September 1, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said that the return of Safarov to Azerbaijan is a matter of relations between Azerbaijan and Hungary, which was resolved in the "framework of the law and is not contrary to norms and principles of the international law." He described Sargsyan's statements as "hysterical" and accused him of being one of the leaders of the group that committed the Khojaly Massacre.

After arriving in Baku, Safarov stated: "This is restoration of justice. It was a bit of surprise for me." He then visited Martyrs' Lane to lay flowers at the tomb of Azerbaijan's former president Heydar Aliyev. He also laid flowers at the Eternal Flame monument and visited a monument to Turkish soldiers.

Novruz Mammadov, the head of the presidential foreign relations department, said that secret talks had been going on for a year between Azerbaijan and Hungary, and that agreement had been reached on the visit of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.

A week before Safarov's release there came reports that the two countries were in talks over a loan from Azerbaijan to Hungary of 2-3bn euros ($2.5-3.8bn; £1.6-2.4bn) which gave way to speculations in Hungary that Orbán extradited Safarov in return for a promise that Azerbaijan would buy Hungarian bonds.

Azerbaijani high-ranking officials have praised Safarov's extradition and pardon giving him a hero's welcome. Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Novruz Mammadov stated in the interview:

Yes, he is in Azerbaijan. This is a great news for all of us. It is very touching to see this son of the homeland, which was thrown in jail after he defended his country's honor and dignity of the people.

Elnur Aslanov, Chief of the Political Analysis and Information Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan said that "...heroes as Mubariz Ibrahimov and Ramil Safarov with their bravery brought the second breath to the Azerbaijani society and people”.

Ali Ahmedov, Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party stated that the "Order of President Ilham Aliyev to pardon Ramil Safarov is a triumph of determination, courage and justice".

Prominent public figures in Azerbaijan have made similar statements endorsing Safarov's image as a hero. Famous Azerbaijani singer and a deputy of Azerbaijani Parliament Zeynab Khanlarova made the following statement:

Safarov is not just a hero of Azerbaijan, he is an international hero! A monument should be set up to him. Not every man could do this. There are two heroes − Mr. Ilham Aliyev and Ramil Safarov. I would have done exactly as Ramil did. He did the right thing to take the life of an Armenian.

Commenting on the hero's welcome received by Safarov in Azerbaijan, Geydar Dzhemal, political scientist, the Chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia, said, “I am absolutely convinced that the welcoming of Ramil Safarov as a hero in Azerbaijan is quite natural”.

On September 19, 2013 during the opening ceremony of the "Genocide Memorial Complex built in the town of Guba to honor victims of massacres committed in the area by Armenian and Bolshevik forces in 1918", President Aliyev stated that they "restored the justice" by returning Safarov to Azerbaijan. Аzeri leader has more than once called Armenians number one enemy, while Safarov’s attorney stated at Budapest trial that "killing an Armenian is not a crime in Azerbaijan."

Armenia

President Serzh Sargsyan announced Armenia's suspension of diplomatic relations and all official communications with Hungary on the day of Safarov's release. "This is not a simple murder. It is murder on ethnic grounds," he said.

Sargsyan suggested the possibility that Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán had entered into a secret agreement during the latter's visit to Baku on June 30, 2012. A number of sources in the media have also speculated that Hungary's deepening economic ties with Azerbaijan may have had something to do with Safarov's release. Sargsyan concluded his statements by saying, "with their joint actions the authorities of Hungary and Azerbaijan have opened the door for the recurrence of such crimes."

Demonstrations took place in front of the Hungarian consulate in Yerevan, during which the building was pelted with tomatoes. Demonstrators also burned a Hungarian flag. A photo of Safarov was also burned by the activists. National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan cancelled his visit to Hungary planned for late September.

Hayk Makuchyan, whom Safarov unsuccessfully planned to kill on the same night as Margaryan, stated that he will petition to all judicial instances and possibly The Hague, since the murder was committed on ethnic grounds, adding: "I had no doubt that Ramil Safarov would not have served his sentence in the case of an extradition. But the Azerbaijani leadership’s cynicism surpassed everything."

Hungary

On September 2 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary announced the country "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 <...> of 15 August 2012." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the action of Azerbaijan in a diplomatic note. The press release also states that "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 opposition parties strongly criticized Viktor Orbán and his cabinet for the move. Despite government denials, opposition parties said Orbán let Safarov return to Azerbaijan in the hope of economic favors in return from the energy producer Azerbaijan.

Representatives of MSZP, the largest opposition party, called for various subcommittees of the parliament to examine who exactly made the decision and why the procedure was kept secret. MSZP had been in power until 2010, and had refused to release Safarov. The Socialists have also called on Orbán to resign over the decision.

Other countries

Organizations

Non-governmental organizations

Amnesty International human rights organization issued a public statement on the occasion of Safarov's release, which stated, "By pardoning and then promoting Ramil Safarov, President Aliyev has signalled to Azerbaijanis that violence against Armenians is not only acceptable, but rewarded. The Azerbaijani government should rescind any privileges awarded to Safarov and publicly condemn ethnic violence."

British expert on Caucasus Thomas de Waal called President Aliyev's move to pardon Safarov "deeply provocative." In De Waal's view, "This is now a full-blown state-to-state row, with as yet unknowable consequences."

Mixed thoughts came from Azerbaijani organizations and figures in Azerbaijani society. Zardusht Alizadeh, chair of the Open Society Institute in Azerbaijan, condemned the act of pardon, saying it would not contribute positively to the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to Alizadeh, the act was not based on any political will, respect of law or interest in conflict resolution, but instead had only "cheap fame" to it. The noted journalist Khadija Ismayilova, Radio Liberty's lead correspondent in Azerbaijan, commented that what Safarov had done was "awful" and the reaction of seeing him as a hero "happens when society is not allowed to do anything. They are angry. People of Azerbaijan lost the war, lost the territory to occupants, became refugees, lost their siblings including civilians and they were stopped and banned from restoring justice on the battle field." on her Facebook account.

Former deputy of the Azerbaijan National Assembly and writer Akram Aylisli refused to comment on the "campaign," but did note that he had his "own ideas of and approach to heroism." Azerbaijani media have criticized the United States' concern for Safarov's pardon and added that it should have reacted the same way when Varoujan Garabedian, a member of ASALA who was imprisoned in France, was expelled to Armenia after his pardon by France in 2001. Meanwhile, the organization Azerbaijani Americans for Democracy sent an open letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging the United States to devote more of its attention to the human rights abuses of President Aliyev, instead of Safarov's pardon.

The leading Azerbaijani Russian-language news website Day.az called on its readers to edit the Russian Wikipedia article on Safarov to prevent it from the possible "revenge of Armenian nationalists."

Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and the Hungarian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, in a letter to Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, issued a statement expressing "full solidarity with the Armenian Christians and with the Armenian people that has so much suffered in the past."

In October 2012 four Hungarian intellectuals - historian, political analyst Zoltán Bíró, rector of the John Wesley Theological College Gábor Iványi, journalist/publicist Gábor Deák and writer Rudolf Ungváry, arrived in Armenia to apologize for the extradition of Ramil Safarov. During the press conference in Yerevan they stated: “We organized the journey to inform of most of Hungarian people’s disagreement, and our discontent with the authorities’ decision to transfer a sleeping officer’s assassin back to his homeland." Mr. Iványi said, “We have come to express our regret and shame. Hungary didn’t even officially recognize the Armenian Genocide as the country was in need of Turkish support then. As for the prime minister having allowed for the extradition, he would have resigned his post”.

Hungarian scientist and expert in Armenian studies Benedek Zsigmond joined in the protest organized by many NGOs in Hungary against the decision of Safarov's extradition and made a public statement of apology for the Hungarian government's action. On his Facebook page he wrote "Today I feel ashamed that I am Hungarian. I apologize to all Armenians... Today is the black day in the recent history of Hungary." He also personally apologized during his visit to Armenia calling the extradition an "unacceptable, amoral act".

A Facebook page was created on September 1, apologizing for Hungarian PM's actions. The group is called "Hey Armenia, sorry about our Prime Minister" (a poster with similar title was used in fall 2011, asking EU for forgiveness for Orbán) and has more than 12,400 likes as of 27 March 2013.

On September 4, 2012, a demonstration took place in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building in Kossuth Square. It was reported that about two thousand Hungarians protested against their government's actions.

In September, the Kispest district of Budapest had a new square named after Kemal Atatürk and a statue of him was revealed among protests from local Armenians and Greeks who considered it a provocation. In the months preceding the ceremony the local government was pondering the matter, being caught between the resentment of minority groups and the will to preserve good relations with its sister city Pendik, whose representatives have already been invited to the ceremony. Only two days after its unveiling, the statue was vandalized by red paint being poured over it. The statue has been restored since.

In many cities around the world where Armenian diaspora is present demonstrations took place against Hungarian and Azerbaijani government actions, including New York City, Ottawa, Tbilisi, Rostov-on-Don. and Nicosia.

A year after Safarov had been extradicted, the Armenian community in Hungary revealed they do not feel safe. Their relationship with the Hungarian government is getting worse every day and the authorities are making their lives more difficult through scare tactics.