Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov sentenced for life in Hungary for killing an Armenian serviceman over an insult of Azerbaijan’s statehood may be extradited to his country, a senior Azerbaijani official has said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, who has paid a visit to Hungary, expressed hope that the extradition issue would be resolved.

"This issue could be reviewed within the Council of Europe, of which both Azerbaijan and Hungary are members, in the frames of the convention on legal assistance. If this issue is specifically raised, the Hungarian side will consider it," Khalafov said.

Safarov, 34, was handed down a life sentence without the right to a parole for 30 years on charges of killing Armenian serviceman Gurgen Markarian, who insulted the Azerbaijani flag during a NATO course in Budapest. The Azerbaijani public condemned the Hungarian court’s harsh sentence, which was pronounced in April 2006 after a lengthy trial.

Safarov hails from Jabrayil, one of Azerbaijan’s regions that are under Armenian occupation. He witnessed torture committed against his countrymen and was among those Azerbaijanis who were ousted from their homes during the brutal war with Armenia in the early 1990s.

20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory has been under Armenian occupation since the two South Caucasus republics signed a precarious cease-fire in 1994 following a lengthy war. Up to a million Azerbaijanis were displaced in the war that claimed some 30,000 lives. Efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.