Armenia broke off diplomatic ties with Hungary after an Azeri military officer sentenced to life in prison here for killing an Armenian officer was sent back to his homeland and, despite assurances, immediately pardoned and freed.
Lieutenant Ramil Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the Budapest City Court after he confessed to killing Lieutenant Gurgen Markarian of Armenia while both were in Hungary for a 2004 NATO language course.
In response to Safarov's release, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said his country was "halting diplomatic relations and all official ties with Hungary."
Hungary returned Safarov, 35, to Azerbaijan only after receiving assurances from the Azeri Justice Ministry that Safarov's sentence, which included the possibility of parole after 25 years, would be enforced.
"The Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan has further informed the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of Hungary that Ramil Sahib Safarov's sentence will not be modified but will immediately continue to be enforced, based on the Hungarian judgment," the Hungarian ministry said in a statement issued before the news of Safarov's release was known.
The ministry said it based its decision on the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
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