Amnesty International: Azerbaijani government should rescind any privileges awarded to Safarov and publicly condemn ethnic violence

 "Amnesty International is concerned that the actions of the Azerbaijani government following the extradition of Armed Forces Lieutenant Ramil Safarov will be perceived as an endorsement of ethnically- motivated violence," reads the statement by the Amnesty International.

The organization is concerned that these actions will ignite existing tensions between Azerbaijanis and Armenians and encourage furtherethnically-motivated violence. It called on the governments of both countries to publicly condemn violence based on ethnicity.

"Safarov, who by his own admission all but decapitated another man in part because he was Armenian, was pardoned and then promoted to Major by President Aliyev following his release from prison on Friday.  By pardoning and then promoting Ramil Safarov, President Aliyev has signalled to Azerbaijanis that violence against Armenians is not only acceptable, but rewarded.

The Azerbaijani government should rescind any privileges awarded to Safarov and publicly condemn ethnic violence. The Armenian government must also make clear that retaliation against ethnic Azerbaijanis is not acceptable," the statement reads.

On August 31 the Armenian authorities adopted a decision to suspend diplomatic relations and official contacts with Hungary after the Hungarian authorities extradited Azeri officer Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced by a Hungarian court to life in jail for killing sleeping
Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan with an axe in Budapest in 2004. Both the officers were undergoing an English language course under
the NATO PfP program. The same day after Safarov's extradition, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev decreed to pardon and reward the criminal.