ArmInfo. Russia is taking all possible measures to protect Alexander Lapshin's rights, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Feb 15.
"We keep this issue under constant control. Lapshin is provided with skilled lawyers' support. The court proceeding is yet to take place," she said.
Zakharova noted that the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan is taking all possible measures to help Lapshin. "Though the Russian stand on the unacceptability of extradition of Russian citizens to the third countries had repeatedly told to Minsk, on February 7 Lapshin was extradited to Azerbaijan. On February 9, the Russian Embassy representatives visited him in the pretrial detention facility. The Russian diplomats received no complaints about the incarceration conditions," she said, adding that Russia keeps in touch with the law-enforcers, Prosecutor General's Office, Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan and the Israeli Embassy.
On Feb 7 the Supreme Court of Belarus rejected Lapshin's complaint about the legitimacy and substantiation of the decision of the Minsk City Court, which declared the decision of the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office about extradition to Baku as legitimate. On Feb 7 evening Lapshin was sent to Baku. To recall, Alexander Lapshin was detained in mid-December in Minsk upon Azerbaijan's request. Baku "blacklisted" Lapshin for visiting the Nagorno- Karabakh Republic without coordinating his decision with the Azeri authorities. On January 17, the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus satisfied Azerbaijan's request about Lapshin's extradition.