YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. MPs of the Armenian Parliament unanimously condemn blogger Alexander Lapshin’s extradition to Azerbaijan from Belarus and propose to take respective measures, reports “Armenpress”.

During the Parliament session, MP Khachatur Kokobelyan said Lapshin’s extradition took place by violations of all international norms and human rights. “Here there is one important step. Besides the fact that this person has been deprived from the right to free expression, he is blamed also for visiting Nagorno Karabakh. I think this is not the usual case that we are satisfied with talking about this here or there. The National Assembly as Armenia’s number one political body must express its clear stance”, Kokobelyan said.

RPA faction MP Samvel Farmanyan said he has no doubt the Azerbaijani leadership will not have the political courage to condemn Lapshin and they will find any excuse to extradite him to Russia or Israel. “We all understand very well that this message is addressed to all cultural and political figures who have a desire to visit Karabakh. I want to state that even a dictator like Stalin was unable to force the citizens of his country to think in a way he wanted. Obviously, the Presidents of Belarus and Azerbaijan will not succeed in doing this. But there is one concern here. The EAEU and the CSTO, and Belarus as an allied state, try to be depreciated in the eyes of the Armenian public, and Russia has to worry about this”, Farmanyan said.

RPA faction MP Khosrov Harutyunyan also expressed his concern and said Lapshin’s extradition is a direct blow to the CSTO system and its efforts.

Prosperous Armenia faction MP, member of the Armenian Delegation to PACE Naira Zohrabyan called Belarus’ such step as unprecedented cynicism. The MP said she will support Armenia’s freezing its membership to the CSTO until the issue receives respective legal solution.

MP Vahe Hovhannisyan proposed to actively work with Russia and Israel since Lapshin is a citizen of these two countries. However, he opposed to the views that Armenia must freeze membership to the CSTO. He said this will be an irrational step.

ARF faction MP Aghvan Vardanyan proposed the Parliament Speaker to instruct the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to prepare an announcement text by which the Parliament will condemn the Belarus step to extradite Lapshin.

MPs Hrant Bagratyan and Vahram Baghdasaryan proposed to raise the issue of removing Belarus from the CSTO as a reverse step.

Alexander Lapshin, the Russian-Israeli blogger who was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan on February 7, has been placed in the isolation cell in Azerbaijan’s state security service.

Lapshin was flown to Baku from Minsk on a special flight, escorted by state security agents. A group of reporters were waiting for Lapshin in Baku’s airport, but Lapshin didn’t give any comment to them.

The Belarus Supreme Court denied Lapshin’s appeal on the extradition verdict issued by the General Prosecutor of Belarus.

Lapshin faces up to 5 years imprisonment in Azerbaijan, under charges of “public calls against the state”, and “unauthorized crossing of borders”.