Axe Murderer Ramil Safarov Pardoned By Azerbaijani President

In Hungary, in 2004, an Azerbaijani Army Lt. Ramil Sahib Safarov walked into the room of 26-year-old Armenian Lt. Gurgen Margaryan with an axe and proceeded to hack Margaryan to death while he slept. The attack was so brutal his head was practically detached from his body. Ironically, both men were in Budapest to learn English as part of a NATO-sponsored, multi-national "Partnership for Peace" program. So much for 'peace'.

Apparently, there is tremendous enmity between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, mostly as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994), and that hatred led Safarov to murder Margaryan.  Witnesses testified that after Safarov butchered Margaryan, he intended to kill another Armenian participant, Hayk Makuchyan, even attempting to enlist others to help him. As luck would have it, although he tried, he never made it to the other officer's room. As per the details of that early morning ordeal- it was definitely politically motivated.

During Safarov's trial, his defense team tried to blame the murder on post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh War. After a series of postponed trials and hearings, and botched psychiatric evaluations, he was finally sentenced on April 13, 2006 to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.  He was deemed to be sane and well aware of the consequences of his actions at the time of the murder by the Hungarian judge who sentenced him.

So much for Hungarian law, however, since he was sent him home on August 31 to a heroes welcome. Not only was he immediately pardoned by Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev,  he was also promoted to Major, given an apartment and back wages for the eight years he spent in prison. Apparently the stupid Hungarian government believed the Azerbaijan Justice Ministry's promise that Safarov would serve the remainder of his sentence in a jail over there.  As a result, Armenia has cut diplomatic ties with Hungary, and Barack Obama is apparently "deeply concerned":

According to a National Security Council spokesman, Obama felt the decision by Ilham Aliyev to pardon the convicted killer Ramil Safarov was "contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote reconciliation.

The spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said Washington was also seeking an explanation from Budapest as to why it decided to extradite Safarov back to Azerbaijan.

Not to mention the backlash in Hungary. The people there are furious with their government's actions- it seems he was extradited in exchange for money (sound a little like England, the Lockerbie Bomber and Libya?) And Facebook pages are sprouting up asking for forgiveness. This one: Sorry Armenia has over 9,000 likes since September 1. And Hungarians Are Sorry Armenia, has over 2,000 like since August 31.

What a slap in the face for both the Armenians and the murdered man's family.  As if there isn't enough tension in that region.

Along with all his other gifts, I hope they add some heavy-duty, long term therapy sessions for this man since they still maintain he has PTSD.