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Azerbaijan never missed a chance to spend massive amounts of money to reach a favorable verdict for Ramil Safarov, the Azeri axe murderer convicted of killing an Armenian army lieutenant in Hungary. One indication is that Azeri murderer was twice recognized as insane, while the first and the last examination proved the contrary, Nazeli Vardanyan, the representative of the interests of the killed lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan’s family told Panorama.am, commenting on the recent corruption report unveiled in the Hungarian press.

To note, the Hungarian anti-corruption Átlátszó website published on Tuesday a report suggesting that the Hungarian government’s motivation for handing back to Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov may have been financial gain. In 2012, at precisely the same time that Hungary released Safarov, more than $7 million was deposited into a bank account opened at Hungary’s MKB Bank, under the name of the son of an Azeri politician. The account was linked to an offshore company that folded in 2015 and which had been closely tied to Azerbaijan’s government.

“It is not excluded that the $7 million transfer to the Hungarian bank account was a bribe to pay for the Safarov extradition. Even if we are not sure to confirm the direct link between the money transfer and the extradition, the fact remains that Azerbaijan never spared efforts in trying to extradite Safarov and make hero out of him,” Vardanyan said.

In her words, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is accomplice of Gurgen Margaryan’s murder by pardoning and glorifying the murderer.  The lawyer, however, refrained from predictions what legal consequences may follow the recent corruption and money laundry scandal involving Azerbaijan.
 
“Both the Azeri and Hungarian governments are equally guilty for the story around the Safarov extradition. We will incessantly work to hold Safarov responsible to serve his sentence in a third country or in Hungary. In general, the Azerbaijani leadership and its president alike are shameless to comply with international norms,” Vardanyan concluded.