Blogger Lapshin’s mother visits her son in Baku jail

Israeli citizen, Bella Lapshin, the mother of jailed blogger, Alexander Lapshin, met her son in Baku pre-trial detention facility. The meeting was organized with the assistance of the Russian Embassy. On a side note, Alexander Lapshin is also the citizen of Russia.

Bella Lapshin concluded a contract with the new lawyer, who will be defending her son from now on- Trend news agency reports. Before that, Lapshin was assigned a public defender from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice.

Blogger Lapshin’s case evoked a wide international response. More details about this case are available here:
Before that, Russian Foreign Ministry pledged to ensure protection of its citizen’s rights. Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, stated at the briefing: “We are doing everything we can within our purview to protect our citizen’s rights and are closely watching his case.Lapshin is rendered professional legal assistance pending trial.”

Yevda Abramov, an ethnic Jew, Azerbaijani Milli Majlis (Parliament) member, refused to meet Bella Lapshina. “Why should I meet with Lapshin’s mother? Her son did hard to Azerbaijan. I’m not going to meet either a mother, a father or a brother of the person who has no respect to my motherland,” said Abramov.

• Alexander Lapshin, a citizen of Russia, Israel and Ukraine, has been accused of illegally visiting Nagorno-Karabakh. 
• Lapshin was arrested in Belarus and was extradited to Baku on February 7.