YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Belarus had no legal grounds to extradite Lapshin to Azerbaijan, Justice Minister of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan told “Armenpress”, stating that by this act Belarus violates all the international conventions. According to the Minister, Belarus has not joined the Strasburg conventions on extradition or transfer of sentenced persons, or even the Minsk convention with a jurisdiction over the CIS states. “The extradition took place based on the Kishinev convention of 2002. But the real ridicule starts just from here”, the Minister said, clarifying that according to that convention the crimes for which one country demands a given person from another country must be punishable by the criminal codes of both countries. “In fact, Lapshin is sued under two articles: illegal crossing of Azerbaijan’s border and making public calls”, Hovhannisyan said, adding that neither the crossing the border of Azerbaijan nor making public calls over Nagorno Karabakh are punishable by the criminal code of Belarus.

The Minister also brought forward some more argumentations proving the lawlessness of the deal.