Russian-Israeli blogger's extradition to Azerbaijan ruled as lawful

Russian-Israeli blogger's extradition to Azerbaijan ruled as lawful

PanARMENIAN.Net - Belarus' Supreme Court has ruled the extradition of blogger Alexander Lapshin, a citizen of Russia and Israel, to Azerbaijan as lawful, BelTA reports.

The case was considered in-camera, with Belarus' Supreme Court examining the legality and validity of a previous ruling by the Minsk City Court.

The operative part of the ruling was read out by the judge of the Supreme Court in the presence of the media.

Lapshin did not attend the hearing.

“The Supreme Court ruled to dismiss the appeal filed by Alexander Lapshin and his legal counsel against the January 26 ruling of the Minsk City Court that upheld the decision by Belarus Deputy Prosecutor General to extradite Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan for prosecution. The ruling is final and not subject to appeal,” the judge said.

Lapshin, 40, a dual Israeli-Russian citizen, divides his time between Israel and a few other places. He was arrested on December 15 in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, at the request of Azeri authorities who demanded his extradition. The arrest was made one day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

Lapshin was arrested following his visits to Karabakh as well as due to critical posts in his Russian-language blog against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

 Top stories
The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says.
Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer.
A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says.
London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised.
Partner news
---