Blogger Lapshin meets with mother in Baku

By Rashid Shirinov

Blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Baku, has one again met with his mother, Lapshin’s lawyer Eduard Chernin told Trend on February 27.

Chernin said that Bella Lapshin inquired her son about the conditions of detention and his health. The blogger did not express dissatisfaction with detention conditions.

The lawyer refused reports spread by some Armenian news media on Lapshin’s conditions of detention.

“The aim of Armenians in disseminating such information is well-known. My client is kept in normal conditions, as he himself has repeatedly stated. He met twice with mother, and he has no complaint,” the lawyer said.

He added that Lapshin’s spouse is also going to visit Baku. “That is, there is no problem with regard to meetings and conditions of his detention. The information spread by Armenians is not true,” Chernin noted.

Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The blogger, who owns citizenships of several countries, paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity. The blogger was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.

Earlier, representatives of the Russian and Israeli embassies in Azerbaijan met with Lapshin. After the meetings, the embassies confirmed that Lapshin has no complaints about conditions of detention. Representatives of the ICRC and Azerbaijan Ombudsman Office also met the blogger.

Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of unauthorized visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.