YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Ramil Safarov, the Azerbaijani serviceman infamous for the horrendous murder of Armenian serviceman Gurgen Markaryan while the latter was sleeping, has been promoted to a higher military rank.
According to Azerbaijani media reports, Safarov has been promoted to lieutenant colonel from major.
During a NATO training seminar in Budapest in 2004, Safarov broke into Markaryan’s room at night and axed him to death while Markaryan was asleep. After a long court case, the Azerbaijani officer was convicted and sentenced to serve a life sentence, without the possibility of parole for 30 years. The Hungarian court repeatedly stated that Safarov’s extradition to Azerbaijan was impossible, but in 2012, Safarov was extradited. Upon arriving to Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev immediately pardoned the murderer and promoted to a higher military rank. The murderer was even given eight years of back pay. On the same day, Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary.
