On February7, the Supreme Court of Belarus rejected the appeal on the case of Alexander Lapshin.
Exclusive Comment by the NKR MFA to Artsakhpress on the Case of Alexander Lapshin
STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 7, ARTSAKHPRESS: In answer to the request of Artsakhpress, NKR MFA commented:
"The verdict of the Supreme Court of Belarus, which has upheld the decision to hand over well-known blogger Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan for criminal prosecution is not only an expression of outright support for the policy of intimidating foreign citizens pursued by the Azerbaijani authorities, but also a flagrant violation of the fundamental rights to the freedom of movement and freedom of speech.
Intending to hand over Alexander Lapshinto Azerbaijan at the request of Baku, based on the trumped-up and politically biased case, the Belarusian authorities demonstrate that they put political benefit above democratic norms and principles of legitimacy and justice."
After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, Alexander Lapshin was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan. In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan, but with a Ukrainian passport. Subsequently, he issued several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities. Afterward, the Azerbaijani authorities issued an international search for this famous blogger. And on December 15, 2016, he was detained in the Belarus capital city of Minsk, and based on this international search.
On January 26, the Minsk city court dismissed the complaint of blogger Alexander Lapshin over the decision of the Belarusian prosecutor’s office to extradite him to Azerbaijan. On Monday two complaints will be filed with the Supreme Court of Belarus.
