ArmInfo.Armenia is a friendly country to Belarus and the Armenian lawmakers' statements on the extradition of Russian-Israeli blog writer Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan are just emotions, Belarusian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Dmitry Mironchik has told RIA Novosti.
"Belarus and Armenia are friendly countries and partners within integration unions, including the CSTO. Therefore, the statements made in the Armenian Parliament are just emotions," he says.
Mironchik notes that he is unaware of any unbalanced or insulting statements made by Belarusian lawmakers about certain foreign political steps of Armenia. "Though they could do it on various occasions," he says.
He points out that Belarus conducts a multilateral friendly policy, strictly observing the international standards and performing its legal obligations.
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.