27-Sep-2005: HEARINGS RESUMED IN BUDAPEST
It has been 19 months since the death of Lt. Gurgen Margarian. An
Armenian citizen participating in English-language courses run within
the framework of NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace program in
Budapest, Hungary he was hacked to death with an axe by a fellow
Azerbaijani classmate Ramil Safarov. Since then the representatives of
Azerbaijan have been doing everything possible to showcase the murderer
as someone suffering post-traumatic syndrome because of his childhood
experiences during the war in Nagorno Karabakh 1991-1994. (As it was
later discovered Ramil Safarov’s family had left their native village
long before there was any fighting there).
——————–
On September 27th, 8:30 AM the hearings were resumed on the trial of
Ramil Safarov in the Capital court of Budapest under the chairing of
Hungarian judge Andras Vaskuti.
The trial began with reading the text of interrogation of the eyewitness
Saulus Paulus of Lithuania. He was the roommate of Hayk Makuchyan – the
second Armenian officer on whose life Ramil Safarov unsuccessfully
attempted. Next, Mr. Makuchyan himself testified. He answered the
questions of the judge and of the defense attorneys. Also, for the first
time Mr. Makuchyan had a chance to direct his questions to the defendant
in person; however the latter refused to answer any of the questions
addressed to him by the Armenian officer.
Then two Hungarian psychiatrists who had conducted two consecutive
psychiatric examinations of the defendant presented their conclusions.
The first one, who examined the Safarov only four days after the murder,
convincingly opposed to any claim of her opponent that Safarov had been
suffering from post-traumatic syndrome when he killed his victim. The
latter claim is part of the strategy that the defense has undertaken in
efforts to reduce the punishment of the defendant.
For the third time Anar Rauf Aliyev, another Azerbaijani officer who had
been participating the NATO-sponsored program along with Safarov, was
not present at the trial. Instead a letter by the Azerbaijani Ambassador
to Hungary Hasan Hasanov was presented to the court claiming that the
eyewitness had difficulty communicating due to a speech disorder. The
judge expressed his discontent and required an official document
confirming Aliyev’s health problems to be presented instead.
Finally, the court decided to arrange the third psychiatric examination
of the defendant, which should bring its preference toward the outcome
of either the first or the second examinations. The trial is scheduled
to be resumed on December 15th, 2005.
Reported by Hayk Demoyan
Budapest, Hungary
For mor information on the case please visit