Blogger Lapshin appeals to Azerbaijani President for pardoning

Eduard Chernin, a lawyer of blogger Alexander Lapshin, who has been staying in Baku pre-trial detention facility for over a month, met his client on March 13. According to Chernin, Lapshin has no complaints about incarceration conditions. He will be given an opportunity to once again meet his relatives on Nowruz holiday.

The lawyer added that Alexander Lapshin and his mother, Bella Lapshin, had appealed to Azerbaijani President for possible pardoning, musavat.com media outlet reports.

Chernin also reported that investigation into Lapshin’s case was underway, but there was no precise information on the trial date.

Farhad Mehdiyev, a renowned lawyer, a holder of PhD in Public Law, claims that Lapshin couldn’t count on President’s pardoning, since the court judgment hasn’t been passed yet. “He could be amnestied, but the Parliament is unlikely to make such a decision with regard to a single person. The best solution will be if the Prosecutor’s Office suspends the case. Having spent 1 month in detention, Laphin has realized his mistake, so this project could be regarded as successfully accomplished,” musavat.com quoted Mehdiyev as saying.

• Alexander Lapshin, 40, a traveling blogger, was arrested on Azerbaijan’s request in Minsk, on December 15, 2016. He has been accused of trespass of the state border (his visits Karabakh), as well as of carrying out anti-national activity, for he criticized Azerbaijani policy in his Internet-publications. 
• Lapshin was extradited from Minsk to Baku on February 7, 2017. 
• Find more details on the case of ‘a daring blogger’ in JAMnews article,