The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, within the framework of monitoring the execution of judgments, published another decision in the Makuchyan and Minasyan case against Azerbaijan, which refers to the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan by an Azerbaijani soldier in Budapest in 2004. According to "Armenpress", the press service of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has released a message about this.
In 2004, during NATO training in Budapest, Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov brutally killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan and tried to kill another Armenian officer, Hayk Makuchyan. Safarov was sentenced to life in prison by a Hungarian court, but after moving to Azerbaijan in 2012, he was pardoned, rewarded, and given material and official privileges.
Emphasizing the importance of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers of the CE put forward the following demands:
Four years after the judgment of the ECHR, the Azerbaijani authorities have not implemented the individual measures of the judgment. The Committee again calls for immediate payment of the costs of the plaintiffs' representatives. It was demanded to prove that the pardon letters posted on the website of the President of Azerbaijan were removed.
The committee reminded that those guilty of such serious crimes should be deprived of the right to hold public positions.
It was again demanded to clarify the legality of other privileges granted to Safarov.
The committee emphasized that such actions should be excluded in the future, and the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights should be observed when granting amnesties and privileges for such crimes.
The committee called on Azerbaijan to undertake new legislative changes to combat hatred and discrimination on ethnic grounds.
The committee also demanded that the Azerbaijani authorities submit a detailed report on the progress made in the case before the session to be held in June 2025.
In case of non-fulfilment of individual measures, the CE is expected to adopt an interim resolution in order to establish stricter control over Azerbaijan.
