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On the TRANSFER by the Hungarian authorities to Azerbaijan of the CRIMINAL, who killed the Armenian officer during

the NATO seminar and ON THE pardon granted to him by the President of Azerbaijan

  The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia:

    -         recalling the cruel and inhuman axe murder of sleeping officer of the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia Gurgen Margrayan, perpetrated by Ramil Safarov, officer of the armed forces of Azerbaijan on 19 February 2004 in Budapest within the framework of NATO training “Partnership for Peace” programme;

-         underlining the fact, that the Government of Hungary as a host country did not ensure security for the participants of an international event organized on its territory;

-         stating the fact, that the assassination of the Armenian officer and its perpetrator were persistently justified and heroized by Azeri authorities at highest levels, hence, the competent authorities of Hungary could not but realize and predict that the transfer of the criminal sentenced to life imprisonment by the legislation of Hungary would imply granting him liberation and thus creating a precedent for encouraging crimes against Armenians on the ground of ethnic origin; 

-         Stating, that pardon granted by the President of Azerbaijan to the criminal transferred to Azerbaijan as well as awarding of  ranks and different rewards are acts of display of political cynicism towards the international community;

-         Considering that this crime is the consequence of xenophobic policy consistently  pursued by the Azerbaijani authorities and granting pardon to the criminal implies that the President of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani authorities assume the responsibility for the crime;

-         Qualifying the decree of the President of Azerbaijan as an action in breach with the humanitarian aims stipulated by the Strasbourg Convention of 1983 “On the Transfer of Sentenced Persons”, as well as with the spirit of universal principles of human rights and norms, 

The National Assembly states:  

1. The authorities of Hungary also hold responsibility for the incident that occurred ; therefore the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia condemns the conduct of the Hungarian authorities and suspends its official relations with the Parliament of Hungary,

2. With this committed action, Azerbaijan once again jeopardizes regional security and further deepens the atmosphere of anti-Armenian hostility and hatred instigated by Azerbaijan, violates the human rights guaranteed by international legal documents and once more demonstrates its persistent policy of aborting the negotiation process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the efforts made by the international community, particularly by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,

3. The atmosphere of hatred towards Armenians rooted in Azerbaijan on a state level reaffirms the reality that Nagorno Karabagh cannot be a part of Azerbaijan, no matter what kind of status be,

4. Calls upon all parliaments of the countries committed to democratic values to condemn the deal between Hungary and Azerbaijan made on August 31, 2012,

5. Anticipates an adequate reaction of and concrete actions by the international parliamentary organizations.

HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN

PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE

REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012