Lapshin’s wife alarms on not allowing her husband to make calls

Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin, who was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan, is still not allowed to make calls, his wife Yekaterina said.

“Whatever the Azerbaijani media write that Alexander’s rights are fully protected, he is still not allowed to make calls. Perhaps, the prosecutor general’s office thinks that the contacts with relatives are not in the interests of the investigation. Of course, since the support of relatives gives him strength. Thanks God, that they allow his mother to visit him once a week,” Lapshin’s wife said.

Alexander Lapshin, the Russian-Israeli blogger who was extradited from Belarus to Azerbaijan on February 7, has been placed in the isolation cell in Azerbaijan’s state security service. Lapshin was flown to Baku from Minsk on a special flight, escorted by state security agents. A group of reporters were waiting for Lapshin in Baku’s airport, but Lapshin didn’t give any comment to them.

A news correspondent reported from the airport that Lapshin is in a serious mental condition and he didn’t respond to the questions of journalists. 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”.