31.10.2017VISITING CORRUPT HUNGARIAN GOV. MINISTER ‘GREETED’ BY U.S. PROTESTERS DEMANDING RE-ARREST AND RE-IMPRISONMENT OF CONVICTED AZERI AXE-MURDERER RAMIL SAFAROV
Posted on October. 28. 2017
BY APPO JABARIAN
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine (English-language edition)
Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly (Armenian-language edition)
On Sunday Oct. 22 Minister Lajos Kósa, a member of the corrupt Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban’s government, was ‘greeted’ with a protest rally staged by a group of Americans in Los Angeles. The protesters included Hungarian-Americans, Armenian-Americans and others.
Although members of the community were alerted of Minister Kosa’s visit a mere 72 hours before the latter’s arrival, they managed to stage a protest rally delivering a strong message condemning convicted criminal, Azeri axe-murderer Ramil Safarov’s questionable and corruption-riddled extradition by Hungary to Azerbaijan.
The protesters demanded the re-arrest and re-imprisonment of Safarov. They have also demanded that the corrupt Orban government of Hungary present a formal apology to the Hungarian people for tarnishing the good name that the Hungarian people have built over several centuries; a formal apology to the family of Armenian Army Lt. Gourgen Margaryan: the victim of Azeri criminal Safarov; apology to Armenia and world Armenians; and finally an apology to the international community for having set a bad precedent in very unfairly freeing under the guise of extradition a convicted murderer way before the latter’s serving the minimum term of 30 years of the life-imprisonment sentence.
In 2004, Azeri Safarov had murdered Armenian Margaryan in Budapest. One night, Safarov had walked into Margaryan’s dormitory and hacked him to death with an axe. The two were in Hungary participating in a NATO-sponsored language program. In April 2006, a Hungarian court had found Safarov guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison. Safarov’s lawyers lost an appeal a year later.
However, in 2012, the Orban government of Hungary allowed Safarov to be extradited to Azerbaijan raising several eyebrows. Upon his arrival in Baku, Safarov was given a pardon from Azerbaijani dictator President Aliyev who declared Safarov “a national hero,” and gave him a promotion.
The Orban government’s move to extradite Safarov angered world Armenians; generated outcry from Hungarians, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, foreign governments, and rights groups around the world; and prompted Armenia to cut diplomatic ties with Hungary. Reportedly, the Safarov affair was masterminded by the PM Orbán.
The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) condemned the use of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons by Azerbaijan to release and pardon of convicted Azeri criminal Safarov after his transfer to Azerbaijan from prison. The PACE resolution, based on a report by Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, European Democrat Group) and adopted by the Standing Committee, called the use of the treaty by Azerbaijan “a violation of the principles of good faith in international relations and of the rule of law.”
The protesters held and displayed banners and posters relaying messages like “We have not forgotten Azeri axe-murderer Safarov’s corruption-riddled extradition from Hungary to Azerbaijan;” and “We demand re-Arrest and re-Imprisonment of convicted Azeri axe-murderer Ramil Safarov.”
They have also displayed large posters showing the “Criminal — convicted Azerbaijani axe-murderer Safarov”, “the Victim – murdered in Hungary, Armenian army lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan,” and “the Corrupt PM of Hungary: Orban.”
Another banner displayed by the protesters paid homage to the heroes of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. Earlier in the day, a group of Los Angeles Armenian Americans participated in a ceremony commemorating the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. They placed a wreath of flowers with a ribbon scribed with the words “Armenian Americans of L.A.” (See related story here: http://www.armenianlife.com/2017/10/28/los-angeles-armenian-americans-pay-homage-to-the-heroes-of-1956-hungarian-uprising/)
Joseph Novak, Pastor of the American Hungarian Baptist Church in Alhambra, CA, stated: “I am here to support the Armenians… PM Orban is about to win a fourth mandate. The decisions that his party made in recent years are deeply immoral. In this case, after the killer was convicted by a Hungarian court and after his appeal was rejected by the Hungarian Court, he was extradited to Azerbaijan by the Orban (Hungarian) gov. Once in Azerbaijan, he was given a house and treated like a hero. What has been carried out by Orban gov. and Azerbaijan is troubling to me as a Christian minister. I am here to support the standing of Armenian Americans achieve Justice.”
WATCH TV COVERAGE HERE
In response to a question by Globalist Films, whether Pastor Novak would be participating in the festivities inside the United Hungarian House, he said: “No.” Earlier in the day he participated in the ceremony at the Mindszenty memorial in MacArthur Park, dedicated to the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. He added, that his conscience commands him to stay with his Armenian friends, adding, “We (Armenians and Hungarians) were together at the Memorial, paying homage to those who gave their lives for freedom, and now, I stand with the Armenian community, demanding justice.”
WATCH related video by THE BUDAPEST BEACON:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-7QzGNoPlk
Speaking to various media outlets, a member of the community Appo Jabarian stated that “by freeing under the guise of extradition a convicted criminal like Azeri axe-murderer Ramil Safarov, Prime Minister of Hungary and his corrupt government have set a dangerous precedent effectively sending a wrong signal to future criminals and axe-murderers, that they can literally get away with murder through shady extraditions.”
It would have been a different story if Safarov had already served the minimum 30-year term of the life imprisonment sentence handed by a Hungarian court in 2006; and had already earned a parole. What continues to cause widespread anger and condemnation is the fact that Safarov had not completed the minimum 30-year term of his 2006 criminal conviction. He was indirectly set free by Hungary under the cover of a fraudulent extradition.
While the Sunday rally was getting started, two-time Emmy-winning journalist Peter Musurlian of Globalist Films, camera in hand, was there to cover the demonstration. The event inside the United Hungarian House (UHH) was to begin at 5 PM, designed to honor the heroes of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet oppression. It seemed a bit ironic that guest speaker Lojos Kosa, was representing a government that some say is as authoritarian as the Soviet government of 1956.
Musurlian approached Kosa about 4:45 PM, near the entrance of UHH and asked for a short on-camera comment about the demonstration taking place on the sidewalk about 50 feet away. Kosa said he had no comment and that he would gladly make himself available later. That “later” interview never happened.
“We had a cordial, two-minute conversation, as I tried to persuade him to make a short comment, Musurlian said.”There was no time constraint. He was not late for the 1956 event. He simply was not going to comment on how a convicted murderer was released from his life sentence in Hungary.”
Did Minister Kosa refuse to grant Globalist Films an interview because he didn’t want to go on record denying the fraudulent nature of the Safarov extradition?
The Orban government of Hungary has long denied knowing in advance of what’s to come from their ill-guided 2012 extradition. In a serious blow to PM Orban and his government’s credibility, and as it had long-been suspected, as soon as the airplane carrying axe-murderer Safarov from Hungary landed in Baku, he was given a hero’s welcome and set free without serving the term of his conviction by a Hungarian court.
Since many years before the extradition, there were many red flags indicating that Azerbaijan had long-institutionalized anti-Armenia and anti-Armenian hatred amongst its population signaling Azerbaijani predisposition on edifying an anti-Armenian crime perpetrator Safarov as a national hero.
By handing over convicted criminal Safarov to Azerbaijan through a shady extradition deal, Hungary has flagrantly undermined Europe’s integrity bringing Hungary to the brink of becoming a pariah state.
The Hungarian people, Armenia, world Armenians, Europe and the international community deserve better quality leadership in Hungary; and justifiably so, their demand for Justice by way of Safarov’s re-extradition, re-arrest and re-imprisonment must be fulfilled.
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