Lapshin case: INTERPOL reponds to inquiries of Armenian Police
Famous blogger Alexandr Lapshin, who was extradited to Azerbaijan, has never been on Interpol’s wanted list. Police in Armenia have requested INTERPOL's General Secretariat to answer their questions concerning Lapshin's extradition to Azerbaijan. In particular, the police asked INTERPOL whether Alexandr Lapshin was/is actually wanted by Azerbaijani authorities on the international level or not, and whether any cooperation was conducted through Interpol channels, or not. “We have checked and confirm that the subject is unknown to IPSG databases, we also have transfered your request to our legal department and will inform you as soon as we have more information,” INTERPOL's Command and Coordination Centre (CCC) said in reply. Below is the letter sent by the Armenian Police. “Please be informed that the extradition of the Russian and Israeli citizen, well-known blogger Alexandr Lapshin (DOB 04.02.1976) by the competent authorities of Belarus to Azerbaijani authorities has recently got large public resonance. According to the official sources of Belarus, Alexandr Lapshin was arrested in Belarus for being wanted on international level through Interpol channels by the initiative of Azerbaijan, which certainly was a great surprise for us as the mentioned individual is prosecuted for political purposes. The checks made by our NCB through the e-ASF system didn’t give any positive result. In the view of the mentioned above, you are kindly requested as a matter of urgency to inform us whether Alexandr Lapshin was/is actually wanted by Azerbaijani authorities on international level or not, and whether any cooperation was conducted through Interpol channels, or not. In case of positive result, you are kindly requested to inform whether the request of Azerbaijani authorities on declaring international searches was examined in the frames of the art.3 of Interpol’s Constitution, and inform us about the results. Taking into account the baseless circulation of Interpol’s name, which negatively affects to the role and reputation of the Organization, you are kindly requested as a matter of urgency to give a prompt response to our request.”
