Moscow is against the extradition of blogger Lapshin: RF MFA

Moscow is against the extradition of blogger Alexander Lapshin from Belarus to Azerbaijan, stating the “inadmissibility” of extraditing Russian citizens to third countries, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing, Ria Novosti reported.

“We insist that the extradition of Russian citizens to third countries is inadmissible, and we are engaged in intensive contacts with the Belarusian ministry of foreign affairs and other state agencies of that country,” she said. Belarus police arrested Lapshin on December 15, 2016 in Minsk.

Lapshin 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 demands 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.