The Justice Ministry of Azerbaijan, represented by its Penitentiary Service, has hurried to give “explanations” for the suicide attempt by blogger Alexander Lapshin.

According to the ministry’s version, Lapshin had attempted to end his life “under the pretext of delayed extradition,” reported APA news agency of Azerbaijan.

Lapshin, who was sentenced to three years behind bars in Azerbaijan, had been fully provided with all procedural rights during the term of imprisonment, the Penitentiary Service said in a statement on Monday. 

“Lapshin, who holds Russian, Israeli and Ukrainian citizen, was repeatedly given the opportunity to meet with representatives of the embassies of these countries in Azerbaijan, as well as with family members,” said the statement. “Held under arrest throughout the investigation, Lapshin has been under constant medical supervision and provided with necessary medical examination and treatment. On 10 September 2017, however, he made an attempt to end his life under the pretext of delayed extradition. Nevertheless, the suicide attempt was prevented thanks to vigilance on the part of prison guards and necessary medical care was provided to Lapshin.”

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, however, on Monday signed an order to pardon Alexander Lapshin. Otherwise, Lapshin’s long detention was about to turn into an international scandal for Azerbaijani authorities. 

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, blogger and journalist Alexander Lapshin—who is a citizen of Russia, Israel, and several other countries—was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan.

In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan—but with a Ukrainian passport—and, subsequently, he published several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities.

Afterward, Azerbaijan issued an international search for this famous blogger. On December 15, 2016, Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, and based on this search.

On January 26 of the current year, the Minsk city court dismissed the blogger’s appeal of the Belarusian General Prosecutor’s Office decision to extradite him to Azerbaijan.

On February 7, the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the appeals that were filed into this case, and upheld the aforesaid decision by the General Prosecutor’s Office.

And on the evening of the same day, Belarus extradited Alexander Lapshin to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, where he was taken into custody.