Belarus Supreme Court denies Alexander Lapshin’s appeal on extradition verdict

The Supreme Court of Belarus has denied the appeal of Alexander Lapshin regarding the Belarus Prosecutor General’s decision on extraditing him to Azerbaijan, Sputnik reports. The Supreme Court’s session on the appeal lasted less than half an hour. Lapshin’s attorney, Natalya Shekina, said her client was not present in the Court.

She said Lapshin’s wife has requested the citizenship and migration department of the Minsk Internal Affairs Department for additional protection. In addition, she has filed a complaint to the Human Rights Committee of the UN, which has already initiated discussions.

In case the verdict is found to be lawful, the decision will come into effect immediately after publishing it.

Alexander Lapshin, a Russian and Israeli citizen, faces criminal prosecution in Azerbaijan for “illegal border crossing” and “public calls against the country”. He faces up tofive years imprisonment. 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 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, 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.