Russian, Azerbaijani ombudsmen to mull Lapshin’s detention

By  Trend

Russian Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) Tatyana Moskalkova will appeal to her Azerbaijani counterpart Elmira Suleymanova to check the conditions of detention of the blogger Alexander Lapshin imprisoned in Azerbaijan, RIA Novosti reported.

Currently, Lapshin is in custody in Baku Investigative Prison No. 1 (Kurdakhani Pre-trial Detention Center) of the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan’s Justice Ministry, and his defense is being provided by lawyer Eduard Chernin, who was appointed by Lapshin’s family.

Alexander Lapshin is a citizen of several countries and has had a criminal conspiracy with Armenians living in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He also illegally visited these territories.

Lapshin is accused of violating Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.

On Jan. 17, Alexei Stuk, deputy prosecutor general of Belarus, issued a ruling on Lapshin’s extradition to Azerbaijan. Lapshin was brought to Azerbaijan on Feb. 7.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.