Ramil Safarov - Extradition and Pardon

Extradition and Pardon

After serving eight years of the life sentence, Safarov was extradited under the framework guidelines of the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and transferred to Azerbaijan on August 31, 2012. Although the Hungarian government stated that it had received assurances from the Azerbaijan government that the remainder of the sentence would be enforced, President Ilham Aliyev issued a pardon immediately upon Safarov's arrival in Baku and ordered that he be "freed from the term of his punishment."

After arriving in Baku, Safarov stated: "This is restoration of justice. It was a bit of surprise for me." He then visited Martyrs' Lane to lay flowers at the tomb of Azerbaijan's former president Heydar Aliyev. He also laid flowers at the Eternal Flame monument and visited a monument to Turkish soldiers.