Constitutional Court: Azerbaijani court to define Lapshin’s degree of guilt

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The legal liability and degree of guilt of blogger Alexander Lapshin must be defined by a court of Azerbaijan, said Rauf Guliyev, head of staff of Azerbaijan’s Constitutional Court.

Guliyev, talking to Trend, stressed that the Constitution and the relevant procedural legislation of Azerbaijan contain all guarantees inherent in a democratic state for an impartial and fair consideration of the criminal case initiated against Lapshin.

Blogger Lapshin, who illegally visited Azerbaijan`s Armenia-occupied lands was handed over by the Belarusian law enforcement bodies to Azerbaijani special services and extradited to Baku on February 8.

Helped by his accomplices in the occupied territories, Lapshin, a citizen of several countries, paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity.

Guliyev reminded that the Prosecutor General's office of Azerbaijan has initiated a criminal case against Lapshin on the 281.2 (appeals directed against state) and 318.2 (illegal border crossing) articles of the Criminal Code.

“Due to the fact that the crime was committed on the territory of Azerbaijan, the extradition of Lapshin by Belarusian authorities was carried out in compliance with the international treaties governing procedural rules in this sphere,” Guliyev said.

Highlighting that the judicial system of Azerbaijan is based on the principles of democratic statehood, he added that any person accused of committing a crime, regardless of citizenship, has broad procedural rights secured by the Constitution of Azerbaijan.

“These rights also provide for the possibility to apply directly to the Constitutional Court for protection of rights and freedoms,” Guliyev said.

Guliyev went on to say that the statements of the Armenian state authorities, who consider the extradition of Lapshin as human rights violations, are absolutely groundless.

“Armenia has no legal grounds for expressing its position on this issue,” Guliyev said.”Such statements of Armenia, which is behind the decisions of the so-called illegitimate ‘court’ against our innocent compatriots Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, once again demonstrate that Armenia is ready to support any act committed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” Guliyev said.

Yerevan sharply reacted to Minsk’s decision to extradite the blogger to Baku. Armenian MPs even stated that Belarus should be excluded from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Minsk announced that the country has fulfilled its obligations under the international treaty on rendering legal assistance when extraditing blogger Lapshin to Azerbaijan, noting that the extradition is a purely legal issue.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan met with Lapshin. The meeting was held based on the requirements of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, as well as the appeal of the Russian Embassy to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.

The embassy’s press attaché Denis Apashkin told Trend that a trial will be held in the near future to determine the measure of Lapshin’s restraint.

“Lapshin has no complaints about conditions of detention. He was secured with a lawyer and given the opportunity to make phone calls. He feels well,” Apashkin added.

Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of unauthorized visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.