Blogger Lapshin waives court-appointed lawyer

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Azerbaijan, has refused from services of court-appointed lawyer Safar Huseynov.

Huseynov told Trend on March 1 that Lapshin doesn’t need a second lawyer and waived the services provided by him.

The agreement between Huseynov and Lapshin was cancelled by mutual consent of the parties.

Currently, Lapshin is under custody in the Baku Detention Facility No. 1, and his rights are defended by lawyer Eduard Chernin, who was appointed by Lapshin’s family.

Blogger Lapshin, who owns citizenships of several countries, illegally visited Azerbaijan`s Armenia-occupied lands and now is charged under the articles 281.2 (appeals directed against state) and 318.2 (illegal border crossing) articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. He violated Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.

Helped by his accomplices in the occupied territories, Lapshin 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 on April 6 and June 29, 2016.

In early February, Lapshin was extradited from Minsk to Baku to stand trial in Azerbaijan.