Thread by @ExtaticT

❗️As disturbing reports of execution of Armenian captives by Azerbaijan forces emerge, a noteworthy piece of news went unnoticed.

#ECHR gave its final verdict against #Azerbaijan in the case condemning its government in sponsoring hatred against Armenians. How it happened?👇👇

Background: Azerbaijan's military officer Ramil Safarov and Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan (pictured below) have been attending a #NATO-organised language training course in Budapest in 2004, ironically called Partnership for Peace.

A few days before the end of the course, Azerbaijan’s Safarov creeps into Gurgen Margaryan's room and murders him in his sleep (!), with sixteen blows of an axe ‼️

Safarov is arrested and sentenced to life in prison in #Hungary .

In 2012, under dubious circumstances, Safarov is extradited to Azerbaijan, where he is greeted as a hero.
Media reports: “As an adoring crowd cheered, Safarov walked the streets of the capital draped in an Azerbaijani flag, carrying a bouquet of roses.” bit.ly/37aliVU

Safarov was pardoned by President #IlhamAliyev, promoted to the rank of major and given a new apartment and money by the Azerbaijan Defence Ministry...🧐

Armenia (the family of the victim) files a lawsuit to the European Court of Human Rights...

Finally, #ECHR concluded that Azerbaijan demonstrated its “approval” and “endorsement” of Safarov's conduct when it pardoned him. Azerbaijan had in effect granted Safarov impunity for serious hate crimes. Full text here: bit.ly/3lRVIt4

Most importantly, the Court asserted that the reason for the conferral of a title and glorification of Safarov by #Azerbaijan was clearly the Armenian ethnicity of the victim. #HateCrime

What did we learn?

❗️This is a verdict from the highest international human rights court in Europe, explicitly stating that the government of #Azerbaijan endorsed and glorified hate crime.

Today, Safarov (pictured below) is a Lieutenant colonel in Azerbaijan's army... bravo!

❗️No wonder we now see videos of executions by 🇦🇿forces... No wonder Armenians shout about threat of genocide in #NagornoKarabakh should Azerbaijan take over... End.