YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. A march dedicated to Gurgen Margaryan’s memory began near his monument erected in the Leningradyan str. and went on to the Yerablur Military pantheon. Hundreds of Armenian citizens paid tribute to the memory of the Armenian officer first near his statue, then in the Yerablur Military Pantheon. As reports “Armenpress”, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan characterized Gurgen Margaryan’s assassination as a one-time genocide.

Among other things the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan underscored: “10 years have passed and we came together here to pay tribute to the Armenian officer. Our officer was killed for just being an Armenian and the criminal himself confessed that he was preparing to kill an Armenian.”

10 years have passed since the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, who was brutally killed by Azerbaijani criminal Ramil Safarov. Although Ramil Safarov had to face with the Hungarian justice, but the Azerbaijani petrodollars and “caviar” diplomacy managed to set the murderer free few years later.

On January 11, 2004, he left for Budapest, Hungary, to participate in a three-month English language course which was part of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. On February 19 he was axed, while asleep, by his fellow Azerbaijani participant, Lieutenant Ramil Safarov. The murder took place at 5 am, while the victim was asleep.

After he killed Margaryan, Safarov went forward with his plan to murder Makuchyan, but discovered his door was locked.

A postmortem concluded that Safarov had delivered sixteen blows to Margaryan's face, nearly severing his head from his body.

Earlier, a briefing given by the Hungarian police added that Margaryan had also been stabbed several times in the chest. After he killed Margaryan, Safarov went forward with his plan to murder Makuchyan, but discovered his door was locked.

Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, was transferred back to his home country on August 31, 2012 under an extradition agreement. Although Azerbaijan formally pledged that the life sentence handed down to him in Hungary would be directly continued when he was returned to his homeland, the Azerbaijani president granted him a pardon and formally recognized him as a “national hero” upon his arrival.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced the same day that Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary.