ArmInfo."The persecution of Alexander Lapshin, his extradition to Azerbaijan is a gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of speech and movement, which once again demonstrates the existing gap between dictatorship and democracy," Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tigran Balayan says his comment on the extradition of Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan.
The press office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry quotes Balayan as saying, "It is beyond doubt that the flow of political and public figures, artists, journalists and tourists to Artsakh will not stop but will multiply."
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.