‘Do we need to open Pandora’s box?’: Alexander Lapshin on Azerbaijani criminal detained in Moscow

It is easy to criticize Russia, but Moscow has never detained Armenians or Azerbaijanis who were wanted by Yerevan or Baku, famous blogger Alexander Lapshin said in an interview with Alpha News.

“Politically, of course, it is easy to criticize Russia, now it is very popular…But if you think about it, Russia has never detained either Armenians who were on the Azerbaijani wanted list or Azerbaijanis who were on the Armenian wanted list. This is a key point, since Azerbaijan has put dozens of people on the wanted list and, among other things, appealed to the Russian Federation to arrest them. But Russia has never done it so that it can continue to play a mediating role in the Karabakh conflict. At least, this has been the case for three decades. Imagine if Russia started detaining people wanted by Azerbaijan in different cities—it is unclear whether these people really committed a crime or not, considering the corrupt and blatantly criminal Azerbaijani government,” the blogger stressed.

According to him, Russia adhered to neutrality, giving preference to no one.

“Let’s imagine that Russia detained Zeynalli, granted Armenia the right to send all the documents, and handed him over. From my personal experience—I was detained in Belarus at the request of Azerbaijan in connection with the same Minsk Convention on Mutual Legal Aid because of my visit to Artsakh—I was extradited absolutely illegally, without being given the opportunity to communicate with lawyers. I was extradited before the Supreme Court of Belarus considered the complaint. I was held in the police station for three days until Azerbaijan sent all the documents.

No one released me. They held me for even more than 48 hours and waited for Baku to send every piece of paper. As a result, I was extradited, despite the protests of the EU, the USA, Russia, and Israel. This is a very controversial question. Do we need to open Pandora’s box? Let’s say Armenia would have received this man, but the Azerbaijanis would have put hundreds of Armenians on the wanted list tomorrow. Imagine that Russia would have to detain and extradite them to Baku. How would we perceive this, given the absolutely illegitimate and criminal legal system of Azerbaijan?” Lapshin said. 

According to Lapshin, Azerbaijan, without any doubt, would have tried to kill this man if he ended up in an Armenian prison.

“They would have killed him in order to pin the murder on the Armenian side. I was also attacked in an Azerbaijani prison; I was beaten half to death, and all this ended with Azerbaijan being found guilty by the European Court of Justice of my illegal arrest, cruel torture, and attempted murder. Who made this attempt to kill me in prison? Clearly, this was not someone who acted in the interests of Aliyev but rather was against his interests. So, think about it: there are Azerbaijani agents in Armenia, and they are in Armenian prisons as well. Think about these aspects,” Lapshin concluded.

Azerbaijani national Kamil Zeynalli, who is suspected of the execution of an elderly Armenian civilian in Artsakh during the 2020 war, was detained on February 21 in Moscow at the request of the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office. Later, Zeynalli was released with the assistance of the Azerbaijani diplomatic mission, and he returned to Baku.