PACE President criticizes Azerbaijan

PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon expressed his concern on Armenia-Azerbaijan relations worsening as a result of Granting pardon to Ramil Safarov by Baku.
“I join the international condemnation of the ‘glorification’ of the terrible crime which Mr Safarov has committed, and for which he has been condemned by a court in a Council of Europe member state,” Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said today. “His liberation is unacceptable, and I am extremely disappointed by the abusive use of a Council of Europe legal instrument in this affair.”
“This scandalous liberation is having very negative consequences on the already-strained relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and also risks destabilizing the situation in the region. I call on the Azeri authorities to reconsider their position, in line with the standards and the ethos of the Council of Europe,” Mr Mignon concluded.
To note, Azerbaijani felon officer Ramil Safarov axed Armenia’s officer Gurgen Margaryan while sleeping on February 19, 2004. The officers were taking part in English language classes within the framework of NATO’s Peace for Partnership program. Hungary’s court sentenced Safarov to life in prison without the right to pardon in the period of the first 30 years of his sentence. The murderer recognized as a “hero” was given the rank of a Major, and apartment and material compensation.