Hungarian ombudsman condemns Ramil Safarov’s extradition

The Hungarian ombudsman filed to Armenian Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasian his extraordinary report on the extradition of Ramil Safarov – the murderer of Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian – to Azerbaijan by the Hungarian side, the press service of RA Human Rights Defender said.

The Hungarian ombudsman criticized the actions of the Hungarian government, in particular the justice minister, in connection with Safarov’s extradition to Azerbaijan.

The report particularly says that when the matter concerns such cases, the state should be more vigilant and demand firm guarantees, whereas the justice minister consented to the extradition without demanding that the Azerbaijani side should give written guarantees that Safarov will serve his term completely in the homeland. The justice minister should have taken into account that Hungarian and Azerbaijani societies took different approaches to the convict and the crime he had committed.

The report stresses that by his action, the minister endangered the principle of the rule of law and undermined Hungarian citizens’ faith in justice in their country.

At the latest meeting in Budapest, Karen Andreasian underlined the importance of cooperation of the two ombudsmen, saying that the institution of ombudsman is a depoliticized structure and regardless of politics and the diplomatic relationship of the two countries, their ombudsmen should continue cooperation on human rights defense.