When two nations engage in conduct circumventing and bartering justice, as Azerbaijan and Hungary have done in the case of convicted murderer Azeri Ramil Safarov of Armenian Gurgen Markaryan, their actions speak volumes about their lack of respect for the rule of international law and principles of post-conviction extradition and prisoner transfers.

Either the government in Budapest is complicit in this blatant disregard and exploitation of international law, or itself has now been victimized and is the latest nation of a long list of nations which have been hoodwinked by the deceptiveness of the Azeri government, which continues to engage in conduct to solely advance its "Holier than Thou" narcissistic view of itself and the sense of entitlement with which it operates.

Such a mode of operation may very well be attempted by those who subscribe to behavior which disregards accepted norms of international conduct, then rationalized perhaps as diplomacy and politics.  However, at its core, it is anything but diplomacy or politics.

Such conduct is perpetuating the previous victimization and murder of an innocent Armenian soldier, not on a battlefield, but on Hungarian soil and, now it seems, in an abyss of utter disrespect of the legal systems and legitimacy of nations, in this case Hungary.

President Ilham Aliyev's pardon of the murderer Safarov is a shameful repudiation of another sovereign as well as of its people whose laws, after being violated and spat upon, have been rendered a nullity.

To add despicable insult to heinous injury, Safarov, after gloating and luxuriating in Baku's red-carpet welcome, is being paraded around Azerbaijan as a national hero.

Such conduct is also an affront to the Republic of Armenia, its people and its government, the Armenian nation worldwide, as well as the international community, from the European Union to the United Nations.

Such conduct is no different than an ally of the United States engaging in atrocities and in the killing of innocent lives anywhere on the globe, with the United States sitting and watching idly by.

The Azeri government and its President, with the stroke of a pen, just smeared and desecrated all international documents, treaties, laws and any notion of fundamental fairness and justice. In so doing, this rogue nation declared to all civilized nations that their people, in the absence of any aggression or provocation, are above being held accountable. Azerbaijan has declared that its soldier, a convicted murderer of an innocent Armenian, like the country he is from and belongs to, is above the law.

What  are the United States and Canada going to do about it ?  What is the European Union going to do about it? What are the United Nations and the civilized nations of the world going to do about it?

The President of the Republic of Armenia, Serge Sargsyan, has announced that its government has cut diplomatic ties with the government of Hungary. Whereas that may be fine for starters, where do we go from here? Where do Armenia and the Armenian people worldwide go from here?

Thus far only one thing is clear: justice was for sale in Hungary and the Azeri government just bought Hungarian justice. But, more importantly and far more alarmingly, the Azeri government also bought international justice, or, at the least, hijacked it.

Whether buying justice or hijacking it is worse may be debated. However, one thing which reasonable minds and nations cannot disagree upon is that the Azeris now are the proud owners of international justice, bought and paid for by the blood of an innocent Armenian.

The Armenian Bar Association condemns "Justice for Sale."

We hold the seller, Hungary, the buyer, Azerbaijan, and all other nations which sit silently, accountable for the rapid deterioration of the integrity, the honor, and the fundamental notions of accountability upon which international law and justice are based.

Garo Ghazarian
Chairman,
Armenian Bar Association
August 31, 2012