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The head of the Azerbaijani delegation to Euronest Parliamentary Assembly addressed to the Members of the European Parliament

10 September 2012 10:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The member of the parliament the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to Euronest PA Elkhan Suleymanov addressed to the members of the European Parliament on the PA resolution on Ramil Safarovâ€™s extradition and pardoning. With his address Elkhan Suleymanov once more reminded that Ramil Safarov has been convicted in Hungary and has served 8,6 years of jail time in that country: â€œ He was then extradited, closely following the provisions of the European Convention for the Extradition of Sentenced Persons to his home country, Azerbaijan. There, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan granted him a presidential pardon, using his legal and constitutional powers and under all rules and regulations, considering Mr Safarovâ€™s jail term as sufficient. There is no violation of human rights. There is no violation of the rules of democracy. Indeed, it may seem as a problematic case and, indeed, there are some who do not agree with the motivations of the parties involved. Nonetheless, there is nothing in this case that falls within the scope of Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

After all, if we are to talk about Rule 122, I wish to remind you of the continuing occupation of one fifth of the Azerbaijani territory by Armenia and the need to respect the rights of Azerbaijani refugees, which sadly are breached every day of their forced exile from their homes from territory occupied by Armenian troops, and of course the infringement of their democratic rights to organize themselves and choose their own governance in their own home territories, not to mention the fact that more than 20 thousand civilians have been killed during the 20 years of war, and finally we should also recall the internationally recognized genocide in Khojaly, which has been the subject of four UN resolutions.

We should also recall that in the case of Mr Ramil Safarov, which is being heavily debated and criticized by some, the pardon he was granted came after he had already served more than eight years in prison for the crime. By contrast, no Armenian murderer has ever been punished for the sniper killings of more than 1,250 of our people, and the wounding of more than 1,300 civilians, including children on the frontline.
Most painful for us, is that while Azerbaijan has always been asking international organizations (UN, OSCE, PACE, European Parliament) to condemn those responsible for these crimes, the Armenian violence and their murder have always been ignored by international organizations. The European Parliament even failed to criticize the breach of law on these cases.
I urge you to show, once again, that you are Members of a House of Freedom and Integrity, and not one of double standards and inaccuracy. I urge you to vote, on Thursday the 13th of September, at 16h00, against the Resolution on the Case of Ramil Safarov, as an inaccurate, incomplete and unfair actâ€.