Armenia Public Council addresses Lukashenko over Lapshin's detentionJanuary 21, 2017 - 15:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's Public Council has sent a letter to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko over the detention of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin, the organization's press representative Ani Gasparyan told reporters on Saturday, January 21. In mid-December 2016, Lapshin was detained in Minsk on the request of Azerbaijan, where he was included in a black list for a visit to Karabakh "without consent of the Azerbaijani authorities." After the visit, he had entered Azerbaijan through Georgia using a Ukrainian passport. Baku accused the blogger of violation of country's legislation and put him on an international wanted list. After the prosecutor's office said he would be extradited to Baku, Lapshin signed a letter of apology addressed to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. "We are well aware that the Belarusian president can solve the issue so we have addressed the letter to him," Gasparyan said. "The letter focuses on two points: first, Lapshin's arrest is a blatant violation of human rights, free speech and movement. Second, the Karabakh conflict doesn't pertain to Armenia and Azerbaijan alone, it refers to the security of the region in general. "Also, we have mentioned the more than 600 people, declared personae non gratae in Azerbaijan, including five Belarusian nationals." The letter was prepared on January 17 when the decision to extradite the blogger had yet to be made. Read also:Blogger detained in Minsk apologizes to Azerbaijan's president Top stories The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Pasadena to host Armenian Genocide commemoration event The Pasadena Armenian Coalition will host its community-wide Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event. Russia confirms start of withdrawal of peacekeepers from Karabakh The Kremlin has confirmed reports about the start of the withdrawal of Russian peacekeeping forces in Karabakh. France recalls its ambassador to Azerbaijan France on April 16 said it had recalled for consultations the French ambassador to Azerbaijan. Protesters rally as Georgia debates 'foreign agent' bill Georgian critics label the bill "the Russian law", comparing it to legislation used by the Kremlin to crack down on dissent. |