BAKU KEEPS CLAIMING SAFAROV EXTRADITION
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 20:41 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Extradition of Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan is
possible and I hope it will take place.
This is possible only after a repeated consideration of the case by
Hungarian Court of Appeal though,” Safarov’s lawyer Adil Ismaylov
said. “According to the Strasbourg Convention of 1983, a person,
who has committed a crime abroad, can be extradited for serving his
sentence in his fatherland, provided that the punishment will not be
changed and he will not be released or pardoned,” he said.
In the Azeri lawyer’s words, consideration of the complaint of the
defense by the Court of Appeal may take a year and only after a
decision is passed “extradition may become possible.”
Ismaylov called “unfair” the decision of the Hungarian judge, who
sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without the right of pardon
within 30 years. “Already at the first trial we felt Hungarians’
sympathy towards the Azeri officer. However, later the judge agreed
to screening a video material, which showed the headless corpse of
Gurgen Margaryan, which created a negative image of Safarov. The
judge also made a mistake, when he stated that Hungary can provide
a forth interpreter to Safarov (at that time he had interpreters
from Hungarian into Russian, Turkish and Azerbaijani), as he may
face life imprisonment. We were also discontent with the results of
two examinations, the conclusions of which did not always coincide,”
Adil Ismaylov specially stressed.

RUSSIAN DEPUTY FM ARRIVED IN YEREVAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 21:05 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Russian Deputy FM, State Secretary of
the Russian MFA Grigory Karasin arrived in Yerevan. During his
visit to Yerevan the Russian diplomat will take part in a regional
conference of Russian Ambassadors to Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Turkey. Besides, Karasin is scheduled to meet with Armenian leaders
in Yerevan, reports RIA Novosti.

OSKANIAN NOT PLANNING TO MEETING WITH MAMMADYAROV IN MOSCOW
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 21:34 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of Armenian and Azeri Foreign
Ministers (FMs) within the CIS Council of FMs is not planned,
Armenian MFA Spokesperson Hamlet Gasparyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. “Oskanian and Mammadyarov may meet, but we do not have any
information yet,” he remarked. To noted, the CIS Summit of FMs will
be held in Moscow April 21.

MERZLYAKOV NOT PLANNING TO VISIT YEREVAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 21:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri
Merzlyakov is not planning to visit Yerevan, The Russian MFA Group
on Nagorno Karabakh told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In the words of
the Group’s Coordinator, Mann and Merzlyakov did not plan to visit
Armenia together. To remind, on April 20 Steven Mann will arrive in
Yerevan and then in Baku from Moscow. Earlier French Co-Chair Bernard
Fassier visited the region.
To note, some Armenia media reported Steven Mann will arrive in
Yerevan along with Yuri Merzlyakov.

SAFAROV CASE: HUNGARIAN LAWS DO NOT ADMIT EXTRADITION IN CASE OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 21:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan and Hungary have no agreement on
extradition of criminals, lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan, who defends
interests of Gurgen Margaryan’s family, stated at a news conference in
Yerevan. In her words, if there had existed an agreement of the type,
Safarov would not be sent to his fatherland.
“According to Hungarian laws, extradition is not allowed in case of
life sentence. By this Azerbaijan merely disinforms the population
on the Budapest trial,” she remarked. Vardanyan also added that the
hearing on the second criminal case regarding Safarov due to his
attacking the guard will begin on May 3. N.
Vardanyan also thanked Armenian media for support and truthful
publications.

SAFAROV DID NOT REPENT OF HIS CRIME
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 22:34 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At the last session of the Budapest court Azeri army
officer Ramil Safarov, charged in murder of Armenian army lieutenant
Gurgen Margaryan, never repented of the crime he had committed, lawyer
Nazeli Vardanyan stated at a news conference in Yerevan. In her words,
Safarov explained the crime by “losing control” of himself.
At that she noted that the defense of the Armenian party was more
competent, that that of Azerbaijan. “We refused from politicization
of the process from the very beginning, while Azeris kept speaking
about the political underlying reasons of the murder, the war,
ancient culture of Azerbaijan. In response to it Hungarian judge
Andras Vaskuti noted he did not know a country, whose culture admits
an inhuman murder,” Vardanyan underscored.
“It was a fierce inhuman crime on the national ground, planned in
advance and aimed not only against Armenia, but also Hungary,” Nazeli
Vardanyan cited the words of Prosecutor Veronica Kis.
As of the appeal, according to Hungarian laws, it can be applied
for in three days after announcement of the sentence. “The Court
of Appeal considers only the course of the trial in compliance with
the documents.
If it is discontent with anything, a new trial is assigned. However,
I do not think this is possible,” Vardanyan said.
From: Baghdasarian

HUNGARIAN COURT PASSED SENTENCE NOT ONLY TO SAFAROV, BUT ALSO AZERBAIJAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 22:38 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Hungarian court passed a sentence not only
to Ramil Safarov, but also to the Azerbaijani state, Armenian MFA
representative at the Budapest trial Hayk Demoyan stated at a news
conference in Yerevan. In his words, Azerbaijan has suffered a huge
moral and psychological, as well political damage in the eyes of
the European community. “Azerbaijan got second warning in 2006 that
medieval way of thinking has nothing to do at the EU.
You must not destroy monuments and kill. Azerbaijan will not be
included in Europe that way,” Demoyan emphasized.

CIS MEMBER STATES TO HOLD AIR DEFENSE EXERCISE APRIL 25
RIA Novosti
Apr 18 2006
MOSCOW, April 18 (RIA Novosti) – A group of former Soviet republics
is planning air-defense exercises April 25 as part of an integrated
air-defense system, the Russian air force’s press service said Tuesday.
The exercises are part of the joint event program of the Integrated
Air Defense System of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
approved by the CIS Defense Ministers Council, the press service said.
The exercise will involve up to 70 aircraft and other high-tech
equipment.
The CIS Integrated Air Defense System comprises Armenia, Belarus,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. Georgia recently pulled out of the CIS
Defense Ministers Council, but is still formally part of the
air-defense system.
The integrated system was set up by 10 CIS states on February 10, 1995.

ARMENIANS, WHO WON MISS IRAQ CONTEST, FORCED TO REFUSE THEIR CROWN
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 20:33 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As a result of threats by Muslim radical groupings,
winner of the first Miss Iraq contests, ethnic Armenian Tamara
Goregian had to refuse its title. Silva Sahakyan, who was the second,
also has to hide from radicals. The winner of Miss Iraq contest,
held under secret conditions, returned the crown of the winner
to the organizational committee in four days, as Muslim radical
groupings of Iraq threatened her. “You are the queen of unfaithful,
not that of beauty,” they stated. As a result Tamara Goregian had
to hide in Jordan and the title was offered to two Muslim girls,
who were the second and third, but they refused, too. After that the
crown was handed to Silva Sahakyan, who was the fourth and radicals
started threatening her, too. Silva Sahakyan is hiding at the moment,
however she does not refuse the crown of the winner, reports RFE/RL.

MILITARY TRAININGS WILL BE HELD IN ARTSAKH
A1+
[11:55 am] 18 April, 2006
Military trainings will be held in the NKR from April 18 to 20 in
which all the categories of the NKR armed forces will be involved.
According to the data of the RA Defense Ministry Press Service the
Defense Ministers of the RA and NKR as well as the representatives
of the officer’s personnel of the two countries’ military forces will
be present during the trainings.
The trainings will start in the NKR capital Stepanakert and will
continue in other regions. They will be covered by the “A1+”
correspondent.