The Margaryan Trial: Case of murdered Armenian off

Ani · November 25, 2004

Court hearings are expected to begin November 23 in Budapest in the trial of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani Army officer charged in the murder of Armenian Army officer Gurgen Margaryan February 19. The two were in Hungary to attend a NATO-sponsored English training program.

Safarov attacked Margaryan, 26, in his sleep. A second Armenian officer, Hayk Mkuchyan escaped Safarov’s attack when alerted by his Lithuanian roommate.

Attorney Nazeli Vardanyan has been appointed by the Ministry of Defense to represent Makuchyan and the family of Margaryan.

The trial will be conducted in Hungarian, interpreted for the Armenian and Azeri sides. It was to have begun in June, however the Azeri side filed an appeal to have the trial moved to Azerbaijan and to have Safarov released from custody. The motions were denied.

It was only a week ago that Vardanyan learned that the trial was about to begin. She says she has not had proper time to prepare, especially as all documents are in Hungarian, and must be translated.

“We will have to translate the documents after we are there,” Vardanyan said. “In fact we are going to get acquainted with the documents of the whole criminal case, as we did not have the right to do that before the case entered the court.”

Preparation time aside, Vardanyan says a strategy has been developed and that she will seek a life sentence against Safarov (Hungarian law does not permit capital punishment). The Armenian lawyer’s role will be to assist Hungary’s Public Prosecutor.

“We need to provide materials, make motions, but the main prosecutor is Hungary’s public prosecutor. We will see in which direction the proceedings go and will prevent it from any kind of deviation from the matter”, says the lawyer without excluding that the Azerbaijani side may try to politicize the hearings.

“We know this is a heavy crime and has been directed against the Armenian ethnos. If Gurgen and Hayk were not Armenians the crime would not have happened,” says Vardanyan. “He must be appropriately punished independent of the political situation or other circumstances.”

Vardanyan says that judging from the Azerbaijani publications the Azeri side will argue for a mild sentence -- 10 to 15 years imprisonment.

The Azerbaijani Day.az internet newspaper reports that Safarov’s lawyer doubts the officer will get a life sentence, due to extenuating circumstances.

A number of Azebaijani human rights organizations are expected to appeal for international organizations to monitor the hearings. According to Azerbaijan’s “525” newspaper, human rights activist Chingiz Hamizade has said the court should investigate various reasons why Safarov committed the crime.

“The place where Safarov comes from is occupied by the Armenians; he has lost close people there. This should be emphasized and taken into notice in the court,” the activist said.

During the preliminary investigation Safarov testified that his relatives had suffered in the Karabagh war and it was revenge that made him murder Margaryan.

“He has insisted he has lost relatives and a beloved girl, but he has not substantiated his words. He has not named anybody and that is not an extenuating circumstance,” Vardanyan argues. “If we follow that logic, any Armenian may commit a crime. His crime is a heavy one and he has to be punished.”

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