MINSK, Belarus (A.W.)—Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin has appealed the decision of the Belarusian Prosecutor General’s Office on his extradition to Baku. The closed session will take place on Jan. 26.
Meanwhile, Armenian Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Armen Tatoyan met with Philippe Boillat, the Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe on Jan. 23, to present the issue of extradition of Lapshin, according to Public Radio of Armenia.
The Armenian Ombudsman noted that the decision on his extradition is of political nature, poses a direct threat to freedom of speech and creates an impermissible precedent. “It’s a harsh violation of the European human rights protection system,” Tatoyan said, adding that “[the] journalists’ visits to Artsakh cannot be subject to any persecution.”
Lapshin was detained on Dec. 15 for visiting Nagorno-Karabagh (NKR/Artsakh) in 2011, 2012, and 2016 and for criticizing Azerbaijani policies in his blog.
According to Tatoyan, the case comes to prove the need to make visits to Artsakh more frequent and intensify the involvement of the Artsakh Ombudsman and international entities.
In addition, on Jan. 13, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that Belarusian authorities should unconditionally release Lapshin. “Aleksandr Lapshin should not be jailed for expressing his opinions or traveling to a disputed region,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. “We call on Belarussian authorities to release the travel blogger without condition and allow him to return home.”
On Jan. 17, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opposed Lapshin’s extradition during a press conference. More recently, on Jan. 20, Israel proposed that Lapshin apologize in writing to Azerbaijan, and in exchange for Baku to revoke its request to extradite him.
Azerbaijan has declared 180 journalists personae non grata—meaning they cannot enter the country—for visiting the “disputed territory” of Nagorno-Karabagh, according to Russia’s state-run Interfax news agency.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s full list, last updated on Dec. 7, 2016, includes 623 names in total.
That is indeed quite noble of the Artsakh Republic to appoint a human rights defender, Armen Tatoyan, in presenting this case of human rights abuse (directed against Alexander Lapshin by Azerbaijan and its lackey, Belarus) to the Council of Europe. By the way, the Artsakh Republic is not obligated to do this; but yet, it’s going out of its way to do this because of its concern in regard to Mr. Lapshin’s current situation. This just comes to show that the Artsakh Republic is truly more committed to human rights than the rest of the world. On the other hand, Israel’s handling of this particular situation is rather shameful. It’s actually urging one of its own citizens to apologize to the terrorist state of Azerbaijan. That’s indeed revolting! But then again, what else could you possibly expect from the morally bankrupt state of Israel? Israel, who has become Azerbaijan’s #2 best friend, will certainly not oppose it in any way.
The fact of the matter here, is that the human rights of Mr. Lapshin have been severely abused. First of all, he, along with every other human on this planet is entitled to freedom of speech; therefore, he has the right to criticize the terrorist state of Azerbaijan as much as he wishes, whether it’s in the form of a blog, newspaper article, book, or by any other means. And second of all, Mr. Lapshin, along with every other human on this planet is entitled to freedom of movement; therefore, with the approval of the Artsakh Republic authorities, and regardless of who does or doesn’t recognize Artsakh’s independence, Mr. Lapshin has the right to visit the Artsakh Republic whenever he wishes.
Azerbaijan and its lackey, Belarus, must not be allowed to get away with abusing Mr. Lapshin’s human rights. This particular human rights abuse case, should be taken to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). How much longer will Azerbaijan’s putrid terrorist leader (Aliyev) continue to get away with abusing so many humans?
In regard to Armen Tatoyan’s suggestion about “the need to make visits to Artsakh more frequent,” I fully agree with that. As a matter of fact, a campaign should immediately be started to encourage all Armenians (both in the Republic of Armenia, and the Armenian diaspora) to visit the Artsakh Republic as much as possible.