Traveler and freelancer from Belarus, Alexander Goyshik, has apologized for the conduct of the Belarusian authorities within the framework of blogger Alexander Lapshin’s case.
Goyshik, who is taking part in the international forum of bloggers in Stepanakert, noted that by handing Lapshin over to Azerbaijan, the Belarusian authorities tried to get preferences from Azerbaijan. “I am myself a traveler and I know how bad it is to appear as a pawn in the “big game,” the blogger noted.
According to him, the actions of the Belarusian authorities badly affected the image of the country, while Belarus didn’t get the promised oil. “The Belarusians were definitely against such a decision by their authorities,” Goyshik said, apologizing.
The Belarusian blogger has been visiting Karabakh for the third time: he first visited it 10 years ago and then a year ago during the escalation. Goyshik wished peace and prosperity to the Karabakh people. “In Belarus we—like nobody else— know what a terrible war is. Let there be peace and let travelers be able to arrive here calmly,” he noted.
After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, 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. And on December 15, 2016, he was detained in the Belarus capital city of Minsk, and based on this international search.
On January 26, the Minsk city court dismissed the complaint of blogger Alexander Lapshin over the decision of the Belarusian prosecutor’s office to extradite him to Azerbaijan.
The Supreme Court of Belarus on Tuesday dismissed the complaints filed in the case of blogger Alexander Lapshin.
According to the experts and human rights defenders, Lapshin’s case may become a horrible precedent limiting the freedom of speech of foreigners and freedom of movement of Armenian citizens.
On February 7, blogger Alexander Lapshin was brought to Baku.