Azernews.Az

Hungary's government condemned Azerbaijan on Sunday over the release of a military officer who was earlier extradited to his home country by Hungarian authorities, Dow Jones reported.

Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, who was convicted in Hungary, returned last Friday to Azerbaijan. The same day, he was pardoned by an order of President Ilham Aliyev.

Safarov hails from Jabrayil, one of Azerbaijan's regions that are under Armenian occupation. Safarov, 35, who participated in NATO exercises in 2004 in Hungary, was charged with the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, who insulted the Azerbaijani flag. A Budapest court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without the right to parole for 30 years.

Earlier, the Head of the Department on Work with Law-Enforcement Agencies of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Fuad Alasgarov told local media that Safarov was pardoned in line with the Constitution and laws of Azerbaijan, and the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.

"The Convention provides that each Party may grant pardon, amnesty or commutation of the sentence in accordance with its Constitution or other laws," Alasgarov said.