NKR Foreign Ministry: Extradition of Lapshin is a flagrant violation  of fundamental rights to freedom of movement and freedom of speech

ArmInfo. The Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Ministry has responded to Minsk's  extradition of the Russian-Israeli blog writer Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan.   

"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 Lapshin to 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," the NKR Foreign Ministry says in a statement.

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. 

Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova thinks it is  unacceptable to extradite Russian blog writer, independent journalist  Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan. "According to Article 31.1 of the  Russian Constitution, a citizen of the Russian Federation cannot be  extradited to another state. The Russian Foreign Ministry and other  departments support my stand. At the same time, I would like to  remind the Russian citizens going abroad of the necessity to study  and observe the legislation of foreign states," Moskalkova said.   

On Feb 3, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a press  conference in Minsk that he considered the Court's decision to be  absolutely legitimate. "Azerbaijan applied to Interpol, not to us.   According to Interpol's decision, we detained him and should transfer  him to Azerbaijan according to the order and to all laws. We could  set him free, but it would be wrong, because we will be treated the  same way if we apply for the relevant structures to detain someone,"  he said.