Monument to slain Armenian Officer Gurgen Margayan unveiled in Yerevan
15:16 28.09.2013
The monument to slain Armenian Officer Gurgen Margaryan was unveiled
in Yerevan today. Gurgen’s mother and member of the UK House of Lords,
Baroness Caroline Cox opened the statue.
Attending the event were government officials, public figures,
representatives of international organizations, Gurgen Margaryan’s
friends, citizens from different countries.
Armenian Officer Gurgen Margaryan was killed by Azerbaijani Officer
Ramil Safarov on February 19, 2004 in Budapest as the two were
attending three-month English language courses of NATO’s `Partnership
for Peace’ program.
Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, was transferred
back to his home country on August 31, 2012 under an extradition
agreement.
Although Azerbaijan formally pledged that the life sentence handed
down to him in Hungary would be directly continued when he was
returned to his homeland, the Azerbaijani president granted him
clemency.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced the same day that Armenia
suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary.