Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights to apply to her Azerbaijani counterpart over Lapshin’s case

YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkovawill apply to her Azerbaijani counterpart over Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin’s case who was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan, RIA Novosti reported.

Moskalkova said she is going to apply to Azerbaijan’s Ombudsman with the request to check Lapshin’s detention conditions. “Journalists are people with special profession who work in risky zones and require special respect and attention. In case of our journalist, who was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan, I issued a statement. Unfortunately, my colleagues in Azerbaijan didn’t listen to me. I will apply to Azerbaijani Ombudsman so that she can visit our citizen and make sure that he doesn’t need medical care and has no complaint over the detention conditions”, Moskalkova said.

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”.