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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Azerbaijani axe murderer's homecoming stokes feud |
| 2012-09-07 |
| Ramil Safarov is a convicted axe murderer, but to Elnur Gasymov, a university student in Azerbaijan, he is a hero. Gasymov said, "He killed a military officer of our enemy." Safarov was sent home last week after serving eight years of a life sentence in Hungary for killing an Armenian classmate during a NATO-sponsored English-language course in Budapest. Safarov entered Lieutenant Gurgen Markaryan's room as he slept, stabbed him several times with a knife and struck him repeatedly with an axe, nearly severing his head. Gasymov said, "He will always be a hero for me." Instead of sending Safarov to prison, President Ilham Aliyev pardoned and freed him, drawing angry protests from Armenia and expressions of concern from the United States, Russia and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The 35-year-old officer was also promoted to major and given back pay of 45,000 manats ($56,000) for his years in jail. |
| Posted by:ryuge |