Blogger Lapshin convicted in Azerbaijan not to appeal, asks to be extradited to Israel - lawyer
BAKU. July 26 (Interfax) - Blogger Alexander Lapshin, sentenced to three years of imprisonment in Azerbaijan, intends to seek his extradition to Israel, Lapshin's lawyer Eduard Chernin told Interfax.
"Lapshin refuses to appeal. He requested the Israeli Embassy in Baku to seek his extradition to Israel," Chernin said.
On July 20, the Baku Court on Grave Crimes sentenced Lapshin to three years' imprisonment. The court ruled that Lapshin is to serve his sentence in a general security prison. Lapshin was put on the 'black list' for having visited Nagorno-Karabakh without the consent of Azerbaijani authorities on December 16, 2016. Such people cannot enter Azerbaijan. However, Lapshin was able to enter Azerbaijan through Georgia in June 2015, producing a Ukrainian passport with a different spelling of his name.
The investigative department for grave crimes of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case on charges of repeated public calls against the state and illegal crossing of Azerbaijan's state border. A person convicted of these charges may receive a sentence of five to eight years in prison.
During the trial, Lapshin pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.