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A. Lapshin blasts Azerbaijan as “murderous regime”, slams Belarus as “unlawful state” in new Le Monde op-ed

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YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. “The Azerbaijani regime is kidnapping and killing anyone it doesn’t like” – this is the title of Alexander Lapshin’s op-ed in Le Monde daily.

Alexander Lapshin is the Russian-Israeli tourism blogger who was arrested in Belarus and subsequently extradited to Azerbaijan to serve a prison sentence for visiting Artsakh “without Azerbaijani authorization”. The move sparked outrage among human rights activists and journalists worldwide.

In the article Lapshin talks about his sufferings in the Azeri jail. He served 7 months prior to being pardoned and deported to Israel.

Lapshin says he is a travel blogger who has been to more than 130 countries and that he isn’t interested in politics, he likes peace, nature, history, good food and beautiful women.

“Even in my worst nightmares I couldn’t have imagined becoming the victim of the political game of two harsh dictators”, he says, referring to Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

He mentions how he was arrested in 2016 while in Belarus. “Police officers stormed into my hotel room, shouting: On the ground or we will shoot. You are under arrest at the demand of Azerbaijan for visiting Karabakh”. He says at the moment his laptop was switched on and he was talking to his wife, and the latter saw what was happening and contacted the Israeli and Russian embassies.

Lapshin argues that if Belarus were a lawful state, it would never deal with his arrest, extradition and sentencing. Lapshin insists that he has not breached any law of Belarus, and that the only convention on extradition between Azerbaijan and Belarus stipulates that any extradition request based on political motives must be denied.

Speaking about his transportation from Belarus to Azerbaijan on a presidential private jet and escorted by heavily armed masked SWAT agents, Lapshin says that “the tragicomedy was staged for the less-educated segments of the Azerbaijani society”.

Lapshin slams his 7 months incarceration in solitary confinement as a violation of international law.

He says that Azerbaijan accused him in the illegal trespassing into Karabakh and violating the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Lapshin says there is no other way to enter Karabakh since the border between Azerbaijan and Karabakh is closed since 1993. He was also charged for using different terms while referring to the territory – Azerbaijani Karabakh, and Artsakh.

“Azerbaijan, which is demanding this territory, is forgetting that 150,000 Armenians are living there, who use their native language. Azerbaijan is also criminalizing the use of traditional geographic location names”, he says.

“I never talked about the conflict, it is of no interest to me whatsoever. Even the kangaroo court of Baku eventually admitted that I have never made any calls for violating Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity”, he said.

Lapshin also mentioned about anti-Semitic hints during his trial proceedings. He says that all trials began at key dates for the Holocaust. He mentioned June 22, 2017 – the day when 66 years ago Nazi Germany attacked the USSR and began massacring Soviet Jews, June 30, 2017 – on this day in 1941 the massacres of Jews in Ukraine’s Lviv began. Lapshin’s parents are from this city. The third trial took place July 4, 1941 – the day when Latvia’s Jews were forcibly deported to a concentration camp and subsequently murdered.

“On September 10, 2017 – my mother’s birthday, I was cruelly attacked in my prison cell. Four masked men stormed into my cell and began beating me, choking me, and when I was already unconscious they tied a rope around my neck to hang me in the toilet. Then I was transferred to the central hospital of Baku, where doctors documented that I was close to suffering clinical death. My ribs and teeth were broken, my entire body was in bruises”, he said, adding that he had brain hemorrhage.

“Azerbaijani authorities hurried to announce that I attempted to kill myself, and that is why President Aliyev decided to “pardon me”. After three days of coma in a Baku hospital I was deported to Israel”, he said. Based on medical expertise in Tel Aviv, a lawsuit was filed against Azerbaijan in the ECHR under attempted murder charges.

In the end of the article, Lapshin reminds several important facts about Azerbaijan:

  1. According to Reporters Without Borders, Azerbaijan is ranked 163rd among 180 countries in terms of freedom of expression and freedom of speech.
  2. Azerbaijan has appeared in numerous global scandals, ranging from the Panama Papers to the Laundromat scandal, which uncovered the corruption mechanism of the country’s ruling elite
  3. The Azeri government doesn’t hesitate to carry out extrajudicial kidnappings, for example the abduction of reporter Afghan Mukhtarli.
  4. There are credible grounds to allege that the Azerbaijani government is behind the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne  Caruana Galizia – who uncovered the ole of Malta and its banks in Baku’s money laundering.

 

 

Lapshin: Azerbaijan tries to intimidate the world, but tourist flow to Karabakh grows

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Trying to intimidate the whole world, Azerbaijan contributed to the growth of the tourist flow to Artsakh, blogger Alexander Lapshin wrote on Facebook.

“For me, the outgoing year 2017 was not an easy one, because almost 9 months of this year were spent in an Azerbaijani prison because of a trip to Artsakh. I happened to dive into the dirty dismantling quarrels of the Azerbaijani clans, learned about the family squabbles of the Aliyevs, I even had a ride on the personal plane of the Baku sultan’s wife, and I saw the bickering for power and oil money in this Muslim country”, writes Lapshin.

According to him, their racism and hatred is not only towards the Armenian people because of the conflict in Artsakh, but also towards any other non-Muslim nation. The calls for Jewish pogroms shouted by demonstrators outside the Baku court, where he was held, said a lot about the country, Lapshin said, adding that all the demonstrations are organized by the authorities.

“Trying to intimidate the whole world, dwarf Azerbaijan, on the contrary, contributed to the fact that in 2017 Artsakh was visited by almost twice as many tourists as a year earlier”, wrote Lapshin.

“Among them were my good friends from the Baltics: Alexander Alimov and Ivar Utinas from Latvia, Slava Gorbunov from Lithuania and many others. They shot a cool film about this wonderful land, its culture, people, nature, monuments and architecture. Watch it, I’m sure you would like to visit it, too!: he wrote.

Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin urges Armenians to ‘stay strong,’ denies Azerbaijan’s suicide claims

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A day after arriving in the Israeli capital after being pardoned, Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin has called on Armenia to defend Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) at all costs and has denied official Baku’s claims that he attempted suicide in an Azerbaijani prison a night before that country’s president Ilham Aliyev pardoned him.

“Armenians, you stay strong. These people [Azerbaijani government] want to see you all dead. Period. And if you lose Karabakh as a result of negotiations, or weakening of Armenia’s position – know that they will come to massacre you. Like the Turks did a 100 years ago. Brutality has already surpassed all permissible limits,” said Lapshin in a Facebook post on Friday, according to Asbarez.

“I’m ashamed to admit, but before I went to prison, I sincerely believed that the Karabakh conflict was very controversial and must be resolved with respect for the national borders of Azerbaijan. What an idiot I was! Azerbaijan began the reign of terror against Armenians in Sumgait, Baku, and Karabakh in 1988. In accordance with the Nazi scheme “juden frei,” only with respect to Armenians, not Jews,” said Lapshin on his Facebook page.

“Meanwhile, in the indictment against me, signed by deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan Rustam Usubov, the following is literally written “…accused Lapshin called the occupied Karabakh region ‘Artsakh,’ which proves, along with his friend on Facebook, Sergey Shahverdyan, his separatist actions,” explained Lapshin who added: “It is indicative that Azerbaijan, which insists on tolerance from morning to night, considers the Armenian name of Karabakh – Artsakh to be illegal.”

On the day of Lapshin’s release from the Baku prison, the Azerbaijani press published a letter that Lapshin allegedly wrote on the day of his pardon–and a day after official Baku claimed he attempted suicide–praising Aliyev, Azerbaijan and claiming that he was ill-informed about the Karabakh issue. He added that he wished for the liberation of “Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani territories.” His posts on Facebook following his return to Israel suggest that he might have been coerced into signing the letter.

In his first blog post since being pardoned and leaving Baku for the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv, Lapshin, who was serving a three-year prison sentence for visiting Artsakh and writing about the country in his travel
blogs.

Writing from Hof Hacarmel Beaches in Haifa in his Live Journal blog, Lapshin said: “I categorically deny the official Azerbaijan deception that I allegedly attempted suicide in Baku’s prison on September 10, 2017. According to Azerbaijani media, president Aliyev demonstrated humanity and pitied me for the suicide and pardoned me after the non-existent suicide attempt.”

He recounts in detail how the night before Aliyev’s pardon, unknown assailants entered his jail cell and beat him unconscious.

“Overnight on September 11 of 2017, when I was getting ready to go to bed in cell N10 of the Baku prison, I suddenly heard the sound of a key in the door, and the door opened. I was lying with my back to the door and wasn’t able to stand up when some people took me from the neck and hands and hit me several times. I don’t remember anything else. What I remember next was that I was in the intensive care clinic in Baku where I was hooked to some machines and an oxygen mask. My two teeth were also broken, while my entire back was covered with bruises,” said Lapshin in his blog.

“I think the attackers were either intimidated or the goal was to discredit the Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan. My death in a Baku prison would be beneficial for some people who are close to president Aliyev, but who believe that it’s time for Aliyev to resign. I have to emphasize that this is my version despite the fact that it is based on the opinions of a number of Azerbaijani reporters and democratic opposition activists living abroad who are forced to live away from their motherland,” added Lapshin.

The blogger added that after a thorough medical examination upon his return to Tel Aviv, doctors said that the injuries suffered by Lapshin were consistent with physical abuse and not a suicide attempt.

 

“The doctors explained that a minor bruise near my neck and my right shoulder, and were not consistent with a suicide attempt since in the event of a hanging, the bruises would appear near the ear,” said Lapshin adding that he would never attempt suicide on his mother’s birthday, which is on September 10 and at a time when his extradition negotiations had entered their final stage.

The blogger also said that three days after the incident in his cell, he is still groggy from the medication he was given at the intensive care unit. He also said that he has difficulty eating was given an IV for sustenance.

Azerbaijan sentences Israeli-Russian blogger Lapshin to 3 years in prison

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Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is in Baku custody, has been sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Baku Court of Grave Crimes on Thursday, according to RIA Novosti.

Earlier, a state prosecutor demanded a 6.5-year prison term for the blogger.

To remind, Alexander Lapshin was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan in February, where he was wanted after visiting the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and criticizing the Azerbaijani leadership.

Azerbaijani prosecutors launched a criminal case into “repeated public anti-state calls” and “illegal crossing of Azerbaijan’s state border,” punishable with a prison term of five to eight years.

The extradition and persecution against Lapshin was widely slammed by international community as a gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of speech and movement.

 

Source Panorama.am

The Case of Lapshin Can Force Armenia Recognize NKR Independence

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ANNA KARAPETYAN
Political scientist

The case of blogger Aleksandr Lapshin is a new demonstration of the destructive policy of Azerbaijan, which aims to isolate Artsakh. And this case doesn’t get appropriate international reaction. The absence of international reactions creates an atmosphere of  impunity for the government of Azerbaijan, that becomes more and more courageous in its steps.

If  earlier everybody, who visited Artsakh was included in the “black list” of Azerbaijan and could never visit Azerbaijan, now Baku dares to demand extradition of a blogger, who visited Artsakh. In that way Baku tries to make international community understand, that from now on such visits to NKR will “cost much”.

It’s not excluded, that if this policy of Azerbaijan continues, one day Baku can decide “to punish” also Armenia and demand to arrest and send to Baku all Armenians, who have visited NKR. What will then happen?

In that case Armenia, and also other countries, who understand well the situation and don’t want to yield to the blackmailing policy of Azerbaijan, will think for mechanisms defending their citizens. The most reliable mechanism is to form a legal base, which means to recognize the independence of NKR. 

Source: http://armedia.am/eng/news/45177/the-case-of-lapshin-can-force-armenia-recognize-nkr-independence.html

Amnesty International: Aleksander Lapshin is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in Azerbaijan

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Amnesty International condemns the extradition of a blogger from Belarus to Azerbaijan.

“The criminal proceedings against Aleksander Lapshin should be terminated, and he should be released immediately,” organization said in a statement.

Amnesty International is not aware of any other cases of extradition requests being made by the Azerbaijani authorities against individuals who have entered Nagorno-Karabakh without their permission. However, there are numerous individuals who have visited the territory without permission from the Azerbaijani authorities and been “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan – put on an official list of offenders who will be permanently refused entry to Azerbaijan. Amnesty International takes the view that the extradition and charges against Aleksander Lapshin are a means of targeting him principally in connection with his blogs, in particular his criticism of the Azerbaijani border control system and the country’s social inequality.

“The charge of “public appeals against the state” has no legal basis, as the criticism of the Azerbaijani authorities in his blog falls entirely within the scope of his right to freedom of expression. With regard to the criminal charge of illegal border crossing, the organization maintains that irregular entry should not be treated as a criminal offence. As such, Amnesty International considers that his detention is arbitrary and calls for the criminal proceedings against Aleksandr Lapshin to be terminated. He should be released immediately,” the statement reads.

“Concerns were raised regarding the conditions of Aleksander Lapshin’s detention in Belarus where he was held at the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) #1 in Minsk. He is also at risk of torture and other ill-treatment while in custody in Azerbaijan.”

“The Azerbaijani authorities have persistently failed to investigate allegations of torture and other ill-treatment and the Azerbaijani courts have on numerous occasions admitted as evidence “confessions” obtained under torture. In extraditing Aleksander Lapshin to Azerbaijan, where he is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, amongst other human rights violations, the Belarusian authorities have failed to adhere to their obligations under international human rights law. Belarus ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1998, according to which “no State Party shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”

Lapshin’s Case Again Brings the Issue of Signing the RA-NKR Mutual Military Aid Agreement on the Agenda

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By Greta Avetisyan

(Armedia) The extradition of Lapshin and the developments around it have become one of the main topics of discussion recently. The claims that the extradition of the famous blogger is a violation of fundamental freedoms, that this is a result of Azerbaijani-Belarusian bilateral agreement raise no doubts. It is also obvious that the incident connected with Lapshin is another provocation by Azerbaijan and the target is not Lapshin, but Armenia and Artsakh.

If in case of Armenia Azerbaijan intends to make it resort to provocative actions and come up with destructive position, in case of Artsakh Azerbaijan’s aim is its isolation.

Azerbaijan has always responded to any international visit to Artsakh quite toughly, and if previously that response was limited with several announcements and with including several people in their “black list”, now, after carrying out the “operation” of extradition of Lapshin, Azerbaijan tries to threaten those, who have visited or intend to visit Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Azerbaijan’s policy which attempts to isolate Artsakh society may give rise to certain concern among the Artsakh people of being isolated from the world, as well as a fear of increase of threat to their security.  

In such a case, perhaps, it is necessary to again consider the issue of signing RA-NKR mutual military aid agreement, which will become another security guarantee for NKR people hitting the attempts of Azerbaijan’s isolation policy. In this regard it is important that the mutual military aid agreement includes a corresponding provision, which will fix that an attack on one side would mean attack on the other side.

Greta Avetisyan

Source: http://armedia.am/eng/news/45191/lapshins-case-again-brings-the-issue-of-signing-the-ra-nkr-mutual-military-aid-agreement-on-the-agenda.html

Blogger Alexander Lapshin’s wife appeals to Israel PM

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Israeli Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin’s wife, Ekaterina, has petitioned to Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, with the request to urge the Azerbaijan leadership to release her spouse.

“Dear Mr. Prime Minister, as the head of the state, you have a big international influence, and thus, you can and must help the citizen of Israel who served in TZAHAL [i.e. the Israel Defense Forces], and now is in a difficult situation.

“You have released Gilad Shalit by paying a high price for him. Your brother fell while saving the Israelis and Jews in Entebbe.

“Now, the time has come to help a blogger and a reporter who got involved in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan while carrying out his journalistic duties, and as a result, found himself in an Azerbaijani prison.

“Taking into account the good relations between Azerbaijan and Israel, the joint military and economic programs, you have an opportunity to petition to [Azerbaijan] President [Ilham] Aliyev with a request and help the Israeli to be in freedom.

“This is a very dangerous precedent because if a blind eye is turned on this, later many Israelis can appear in such a situation, due to visiting disputed territories and for visiting our territories in Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, which the international community does not recognize as Israeli.

We realize that you are focused on global issues, such as the Iranian threat. But rendering assistance to your citizens is no less an important commitment, since we do not abandon our own, not solely in the battlefield, but anywhere.

“We expect your intervention, since you can and you must [intervene],” specifically reads the petition by Lapshin’s wife.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, blogger Alexander Lapshin was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan.

In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan–but with a Ukrainian passport–and, subsequently, he published several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities.

Afterward, Azerbaijan issued an international search for this famous blogger. On December 15, 2016, Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, and based on this search.

On January 26 of the current year, the Minsk city court dismissed the blogger’s appeal of the Belarusian General Prosecutor’s Office decision to extradite him to Azerbaijan.

On February 7, the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the appeals that were filed into this case, and upheld the aforesaid decision by the General Prosecutor’s Office.

On the evening of the same day, the famous blogger was extradited to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, where he was taken into custody.

According to analysts and human rights defenders, however, Alexander Lapshin’s case may become an appalling precedent that curtails the freedom of speech of foreigners and the freedom of movement of Armenian citizens.

Armenia police: Lapshin has never been on Interpol’s wanted list

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lapshin-never-interpol

YEREVAN. – Blogger Alexander Lapshin, who was extradited to Azerbaijan, has never been on Interpol’s wanted list.

Advisor to the  Chief of Armenian Police, Narek Malyan, wrote the aforementioned on his Facebook page.

“In response to the inquiry of the Republic of Armenia Police, the General Secretariat of Interpol today responded that Alexander Lapshin has neither ever been registered nor put on an international wanted list of Interpol,” he noted.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, Alexander Lapshin was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan. In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan, but with a Ukrainian passport. Subsequently, he issued several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities. Afterward, the Azerbaijani authorities issued an international search for this famous blogger. And on December 15, 2016, he was detained in the Belarus capital city of Minsk, and based on this international search.

On January 26, the Minsk city court dismissed the complaint of blogger Alexander Lapshin over the decision of the Belarusian prosecutor’s office to extradite him to Azerbaijan.

The Supreme Court of Belarus on Tuesday dismissed the complaints filed in the case of blogger Alexander Lapshin.

According to the experts and human rights defenders, Lapshin’s case may become a horrible precedent limiting the freedom of speech of foreigners and freedom of movement of Armenian citizens.

Blogger Alexander Lapshin was brought to Baku Tuesday evening.

Israeli Blogger Alexander Lapshin become victim of Azerbaijan and Belarus dictatorship

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famous-blogger-lapshinIsraeli Blogger Jailed in Belarus Extradited to Azerbaijan
Joint Israeli, Russian efforts have failed to prevent the deportation of Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan, which he has criticized in posts.
Lapshin’s Extradition to Baku Widely Criticized,

The Belarus Supreme Court denied Lapshin’s appeal on the extradition verdict issued by the General Prosecutor of Belarus.

Lapshin faces up to 5 years imprisonment in Azerbaijan, under charges of “public calls against the state”, and “unauthorized crossing of borders”.

Belarus police arrested Alexander Lapshin on December 15, 2016 in Minsk. Lapshin, a Russian and Israeli citizen, resides in Moscow and writes for the famous Russian Travel Blog. He is wanted by Azerbaijan for visiting Nagorno Karabakh in 2011, 2012 and 2016, and criticizing Azerbaijan’s policy in his blog.

Baku demanded the extradition of Lapshin from Belarus.

Earlier it was reported that the Deputy Prosecutor General of Belarus has made a decision to uphold the request of Azerbaijan’s General Prosecutor on extraditing Citizen of Russia and Israel Alexander Lapshin, who is wanted for violating Articles 281.2 and 318.2 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on February 3 : “Belarus has no grounds to not extradite Lapshin to Azerbaijan”. He said the issue will be solved based on law and international agreements.

The Russian foreign ministry said it is inadmissible to extradite Russian citizens to third countries.