The Prosecutor General's Office on granting Baku’s request for Russian Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin’s extradition to Azerbaijan was appealed in the Minsk city court. The closed session will take place on January 26, at 14:00.

Lapshin’s attorney informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about the decision.

The complaint was filed on January 24, and the court very quickly assigned date of its reviewing. In the future, City Court's decision can be appealed in the Supreme Court of Belarus.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, famous blogger Alexander Lapshin was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan.

In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan, but with a Ukrainian passport. Subsequently, he issued several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities. Afterward, the Azerbaijani authorities issued an international search for this famous blogger.

On December 15, 2016, he was detained in the Belarus capital city of Minsk, and based on this international search.

Baku demands his extradition to Azerbaijan, and for visiting Artsakh.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and US Department of State Spokesperson John Kirby, however, had spoken against Lapshin’s detention and such extradition, noting the importance of upholding freedom of speech.

And on January 17, the Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus decided to grant the Baku authorities’ request for Alexander Lapshin’s extradition to Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy, however, that the prosecutor’s office had concealed this information for about two days.