Russian diplomats have received no complaints from blogger Alexander Lapshin regarding his detention conditions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Feb. 15, APA’s Moscow correspondent reported.
Moscow has repeatedly expressed its position to Minsk that the extradition of a Russian citizen to a third country is unacceptable, noted Zakharova.
“Alexander Lapshin is a citizen of Russia and Israel. On Feb. 9, officials of the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan visited Lapshin in prison. The Russian diplomats received no complaints from Lapshin regarding his detention conditions,” she said.
Zakharova went on to say that the Russian Embassy is in constant contacts with law-enforcement authorities, General Prosecutor’s Office and Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.
“Within the scope of our powers, we are taking all possible measures to protect the rights of the Russian citizen and keep the issue in the spotlight,” the spokeswoman said. “Lapshin is provided with a highly qualified lawyer. A judicial process will start soon.”
Zakharova called on media representatives not to spread unverified information about the issue.
Alexander Lapshin is a citizen of several countries and has had a criminal conspiracy with Armenians living in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He also illegally visited these territories.
Lapshin is accused of violating Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.
The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office filed a suit against Lapshin under the articles of 281.2 (appeals directed against the state) and 318.2 (illegal border crossing) of the Criminal Code.
Lapshin was detained in Minsk on Dec. 15, 2016 and extradited to Azerbaijan on Feb. 7.
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