Armenian National Committee of America NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS August 29, 2012 His Excellency György Szapáry The Ambassador of Hungary to the United States of America Embassy of Hungary 3910 Shoemaker Street, NW Washington, DC 20008 Dear Mr. Ambassador: I am writing, in the spirit of the longstanding friendship between the Hungarian and Armenian peoples, to share with you our concerns regarding published accounts that the government of Hungary may be considering the extradition to Azerbaijan of Ramil Safarov, a Lieutenant in the Azerbaijani military, who is currently serving a life sentence in your country for the February 2004 premeditated murder of Armenian Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, during a NATO Partnership for Peace program. As you know, Safarov was convicted for murdering Lieutenant Margaryan in his sleep. The brutal violence of Safarov’s cold-blooded, pre-planned axe murder - during which he nearly severed his victim’s head - is matched only by his chilling lack of remorse or repentance for his crime. If he were to be returned to Baku, he would, very likely, be welcomed, as his act of murder was at the time, by government officials, political leaders, and many in Azerbaijani society. Safarov’s extradition, in addition to representing a serious breach of justice in a clear case of homicide, would send a dangerous signal to the Azerbaijani government, emboldening it to continue inciting its own citizens to violence and, more broadly, encouraging it to continue undertaking threats and actual acts of aggression against both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. We are, as you can imagine, hopeful that the accounts that have been published on this matter are unfounded and that consideration is not, in fact, being given to Safarov’s extradition. We would, of course, welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your staff to address our concerns in greater detail, and to discuss any other issues of common concern. Thank you for your kind consideration of our views on this matter. Sincerely, Aram S. Hamparian Executive Director ANCA NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS ANCA WESTERN REGION ANCA EASTERN REGION 1711 N Street, NW 104 N Belmont Street, 2nd Floor 80 Bigelow Avenue Washington, DC 20036 Glendale, CA 91204 Watertown, MA 02472 ph: 202 775 1918, fx: 202 775 5648 ph: 818 500 1918, fx: 818 246 7353 ph: 917 428 1918, fx: 718 651 3637 www.anca.org, [email protected] www.anca.org, [email protected] www.anca.org, [email protected].