STEPANAKERT. – Azerbaijan is attempting to go to a new “level” in the case of Alexander Lapshin, and launch a criminal persecution against people that have visited Nagorno-Karabakh.

Davit Babayan, Spokesperson of the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), stated the aforesaid, as he commented, at the request of Armenian News-NEWS.am, on the Azerbaijani authorities’ attempts to have Lapshin extradited from Belarus.

“The attempts are also considered interference in the internal affairs of another state,” stressed Babayan. “In fact, Azerbaijan wishes to achieve the extradition of a citizen of a foreign state, to try [him] on a fictitious ‘crime;’ this is a gross violation of international law and international humanitarian law.

“If Azerbaijan behaves this way toward the citizens of third countries, then there is no doubt that it will launch genocide, [if] getting the slightest chance to oversee Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The Artsakh presidential spokesperson added that such attempts should be stopped, forthwith.

“If the citizen is extradited, nonetheless, this will reflect on the image of Belarus,” he noted.

As per Davit Babayan, at any rate, such demeanor of the Azerbaijani authorities attests to their steady degradation.