Ramil Safarov

Ramil Safarov

Ramil Sahib oglu Safarov (Azerbaijani: Ramil Sahib oğlu Səfərov; born August 25, 1977) is a convicted officer of the Azerbaijani army who, while participating as a lieutenant in a NATO-sponsored course of studies in Budapest in 2004 killed a fellow attendee, Armenian army lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, with an axe.

In 2006, Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment in Hungary with a minimum incarceration period of 30 years. After his request under the Strasbourg convention, he was extradited on August 31, 2012 to Azerbaijan where he was greeted as a hero, pardoned by Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev despite contrary assurances made to Hungary, promoted to the rank of major and given an apartment and over eight years of back pay. According to Azerbaijani authorities, Safarov was pardoned in compliance with Article 12 of the convention. Following Safarov's pardon, Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary and immediate protests broke out in Yerevan.