Extradition and Azerbaijani President’s pardoning of criminal Ramil Safarov convicted for axe-murdering an Armenian officer sparked negative reaction in the international community, according to OSCE Minsk Group co-chair (1992-1996), Russian diplomat Vladimir Kazimirov.
“The important aspect of the “Safarov case” is that despite relations with Baku, Hungarian government condemned the pardoning, saying it ran counter to Azerbaijan’s official statement to continue execution of the sentence in the criminal’s homeland. Despite Azerbaijan’s Deputy Justice Minister’s statement that Safarov may be released on parole only 25 years after the adjudication, Baku grossly turned a blind eye to own pledges.
Ilham Aliyev keeps stating the war has not ended, with Azeri side calling the contact line between the armed forces “frontline”, and the opposite side – “enemy”. The electoral landscape in Armenia and Azerbaijan has not facilitated OSCE Minsk Group’s activity. With the Safarov case having stirred additional tensions, no doubt, the mediators will focus on the inadmissibility to further escalate the situation by resumption of hostilities rather than settlement of contentious issues,” Mr. Kazimirov’s article “The Mediators should return to the start” reads.
