The May 26 judgement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan’s case has been appealed to the Grand Chamber, lawyers Siranush Sahakyan and Levon Gevorgyan representing applicants Hayk Makuchyan and Samvel Minasyan in the case said in a statement on Tuesday.

The case Makuchyan and Minasyan v. Azerbaijan and Hungary concerned the presidential pardon given to and glorification of convicted Azerbaijani murderer Ramil Safarov, who brutally killed Margaryan and attempted to murder another Armenian officer Hayk Makuchyan, and his release following the transfer from Hungary to Azerbaijan.

ECHR ruled that there had been a procedural violation by Azerbaijan of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights and a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).

According to the judgement, there has been no justification for the Azerbaijani authorities’ failure to enforce the punishment of military officer Ramil Safarov and to in effect grant him impunity for a serious hate crime.

“However, the European Court of Human Rights did not attribute Gurgen Margaryan’s assassination and the attempted murder of Hayk Makuchyan to Azerbaijan, citing Hungary’s judgement that Safarov committed the acts in private capacity. The European Court also exonerated Hungary in its ruling,” the lawyers said.

“Taking into account the legal significance of this case and the great public interest in it, we would like to inform that before it enters into force, the judgment of the ECHR Chamber has been appealed to the Grand Chamber,” the statement said.