On February 19, 2004, Ramil Safarov, a lieutenant of the Azerbaijani Amy, murdered the Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan.

On January 11, 2004, he left for Budapest to participate in a three-month English language course which was part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program. On February 19 he was axed, while asleep, by his fellow Azerbaijani participant, Lieutenant Ramil Safarov. The murder took place at 5 AM in the morning, while the victim was asleep.

When interrogated, Safarov confessed he had planned to murder of two Armenian officers “by chopping off their heads.”

Despite the confession, Azerbaijan propaganda attempted to make Ramil Safarov a national hero of Azerbaijan and deceive the international community.

On April 16, 2006, the court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without possibility of appeal until 2036. The judge, Andras Vaskuti, cited the premeditated nature and brutality of the crime and the fact that Safarov showed no remorse for his deeds as the reasons for the sentence.

Azerbaijan made an attempt to get Safarov extradited to Azerbaijan. However, the Hungarian public and authorities realized that he would hardly serve his sentence for the heinous crime in Azerbaijan.