Ombudsman: All requirements of criminal and criminal procedure legislation met during extradition of Lapshin
By Rashid Shirinov
All requirements and regulations of the criminal law and criminal procedure legislation were ensured during the extradition of blogger Alexander Lapshin from Minsk to Baku.
Azerbaijan’s Ombudsman Office has made such a statement in a response to foreign media reports and comments that allegedly the relevant legislation was violated during the blogger’s extradition.
Head of the Ombudsman office Aydin Safikhanli told Trend that such comments show that the logic of those persons is based not on law, but on a political assignment.
“The Azerbaijani side proved that the issue was resolved in the legal field and in accordance with international law, and the media were provided with sufficient information,” Safikhanli said.
Blogger Lapshin, who owns several citizenships, illegally visited Azerbaijan`s Armenia-occupied lands and now is charged under the articles 281.2 (appeals directed against state) and 318.2 (illegal border crossing) articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
Helped by his accomplices in the occupied territories, Lapshin, 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.
Safikhanli further noted that the acts committed by Lapshin fall under two articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code – open calls against the state and illegal crossing of the state border of Azerbaijan, – and punishment for breach of these articles is imprisonment for a term from 5 to 8 years.
Noting that similar articles of the Belarusian and Russian Criminal Codes stipulate penalty of up to 10 years in prison, he said that in other three states the acts, committed by Alexander Lapshin, are punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.
“This proves that all requirements of criminal and criminal-procedural legislation were met during the extradition of Lapshin to Azerbaijan,” Safikhanli said.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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