Blogger Lapshin’s Extradition From Azerbaijan Not Possible Before Court's Ruling

BAKU (Sputnik) — Extradition from Azerbaijan of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is currently under arrest in Baku for his visit to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh republic, is impossible until the local court makes a ruling regarding his case, Lapshin’s lawyer Safar Guseynov said on Tuesday.

"Criminal investigation against Lapshin continues. After the investigation finishes, he will have to face trial. After the court delivers a judgment, his extradition to one of the countries of his citizenship can be considered. Before the ruling, Lapshin cannot be extradited to any county," Guseynov said as quoted by the Trend News Agency.

Lapshin, a popular travel blogger writing in Russian, said last December he had been detained in Minsk on Azerbaijan's warrant, which blacklisted him for the June 2015 trip to the split region of Nagorno-Karabakh. In Azerbaijan he is accused of having allegedly violated border control rules by traveling to the breakaway region on a Ukrainian passport.

The Supreme Court of Belarus on February 7 upheld the decision of the republic's Prosecutor General's Office to extradite Lapshin to Azerbaijan. On the same day he was extradited to Baku by a special flight.

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that all required legal actions to protect Lapshin were being performed, while the Russian Foreign Ministry voiced concern over the Belarusian court’s ruling.