Azerbaijani authorities realized with a delay that Safarov's deal was a mistake: Thomas de Waal

YEREVAN, JULY 2, ARMENPRESS. Axe-killer Ramil Safarov, who murdered Armenian Army Lieutenant Gourgen Margaryan when he was asleep, is not considered a national hero in Azerbaijan and a number of Azerbaijanis are shocked with that accident. The Senior Associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing primarily in the South Caucasus region, Thomas de Waal stated this at the press conference held on July 2. As reports "Armenpress" Thomas de Waal touched upon the perception of Ramil Safarov's character in Azerbaijan and underscored: "He is not a national hero. No doubt a lot of people consider him a hero, but I personally know a number of people, who are shocked with that accident." In addition Thomas de Waal underscored that the Azerbaijani authorities realized with a delay that it was wrong to set Safarov free and his disappearance is to prove that.

On February 19, 2004, Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan, was hacked to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani participant, lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of Partnership for Peace NATO-sponsored program. The Hungarian authorities extradited the criminal on August 31, 2012, despite the fact that the Hungarian court had sentenced Ramil Safarov to a life imprisonment with noright to be pardoned in 30 years time. The assassin was not just released in homeland, but elevated to the rank of major as well.