Alexander Lapshin: The question of Azerbaijan’s exclusion from the Council of Europe should be raised

“Since the Azerbaijani authorities have not complied with decisions for more than two years, and they openly declare that they are not interested in any decisions of the Council of Europe, the European Court, or any European authorities, we appealed to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with a demand to recognize Azerbaijan as a wilful decision breaker and, accordingly, to hold it accountable for this,” blogger Alexander Lapshin told Alpha News following a conference in Strasbourg with delegations of member countries of the Council of Europe․

He noted that on May 20, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Azerbaijan on his complaint. The court found Azerbaijan guilty of his illegal arrest and attempted murder due to his visit to Artsakh in 2011.

“Azerbaijan has not yet complied with the court’s decision. Let me remind you that there was a compensation of 30 thousand euros, but what is more important is not the compensation. They were obliged to conduct an investigation and find those responsible for the attempt on my life in prison. These were four masked killers. So far, Azerbaijan has not been able to detain and interrogate them, but we understand perfectly well who sent them and for what purpose,” the blogger noted.

Speaking about the accountability for failure to comply with the court’s decision, Lapshin noted that at most the question of Azerbaijan’s exclusion from the Council of Europe should be raised. “And not only in my personal case. There are dozens of unfulfilled decisions on the part of Azerbaijan. In general, Azerbaijan is one of the leaders in ignoring decisions of the European Court,” Lapshin stressed.