Lapshin does not consider himself guilty of the charges brought against him

Baku / 30.06.17 / Turan: On June 30, the trial of the Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin, accused of public calls against the statehood of Azerbaijan, continued in the Serious Crimes Court.

On June 30, an indictment was read out for the trial. In which it was stated that Lapshin had twice visited Nagorno-Karabakh, having violated the state border of Azerbaijan.

In his publications Lapshin represented Nagorno Karabakh as an "independent state" thus opposing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Lapshin himself did not plead guilty, saying that he visited Nagorno Karabakh as a tourist. "I do not plead guilty. I was on a tourist trip," he said.

Lapshin said that he only shared his tourist impressions in his blog, and had no contacts with officials in Karabakh.

Lapshin said that before the trip he was not interested in the history of the region and did not attempt to obtain permission from the Azerbaijani side. At the same time, he said that he called Nagorno-Karabakh "independent" not as a state, but as a geographical territory. "

The lawyer of the blogger Eduard Chernin said, during the process five witnesses were questioned. "Five internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan were witnesses at the trial. They said that the activities of such people as Lapshin, propagandizing separatism, hamper the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict and their return to their native places," the lawyer said.

The lawyer gave a negative answer to the question whether there were any defense motions. Chernin said that the next meeting was scheduled for July 3 and that the testimony of the witnesses would continue.

The process was observed by representatives of the embassies of Russia, Ukraine and Israel, who refrained from commenting.

According to the indictment, Lapshin visited the occupied territories of Azerbaijan more than once in 2011-2016. For this he was included in the "black list" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. However, in 2015 he entered Azerbaijan with the Ukrainian passport, using the difference in writing his name. Lapshin was detained by the authorities of Belarus at the request of Azerbaijan, and was extradited to Baku. According to the charges, Lapshin faces up to 8 years in prison.

The authorities of Russia and Israel appealed to the authorities of Azerbaijan with a request to release the blogger, but they did not reach the goal. -06C06--