White House: Azerbaijan's decision to pardon Safarov is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions

Azerbaijan's decision to pardon Safarov is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote reconciliation, says the Statement by NSC Spokesman Tommy Vietor on Azerbaijan's Decision to Pardon Ramil Safarov, The White House Office of the Press Secretary reports.  

"President Obama is deeply concerned by today's announcement that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his return from Hungary. Safarov confessed to the murder of Armenian Armyofficer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in 2004, and was serving a life sentence in Hungary for this brutal crime. We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment about the decision to pardon Safarov. This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote reconciliation. The United States is also requesting an explanation from Hungary regarding its decision to transfer Safarov to Azerbaijan," the statement reads. 

Earlier on August 31 the Armenian authorities adopted a decision to suspend diplomatic relations and official contacts wit Hungary, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said during a special meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions on Friday. The decision followed the decision of the Hungarian authorities to extradite an Azeri officer Ramil Safarov who 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 the criminal.