Defence states the unproved Lapshin's guilt

In the course of the inquiry into the case of Alexander Lapshin, a blogger, accused of illegally crossing the border in connection with his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and calls against the Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, no reliable evidence of his guilt was presented, said his advocate Eduard Chernin.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 30, Lapshin announced his recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. On July 3, prosecution witnesses, forced migrants from Nagorno-Karabakh, claimed that they had been insulted by Lapshin's publications. However, most of them failed to quote any specific statements that had offended their feelings, said the advocate.

Today, Almaz Bairamova, an expert of the Centre for Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice, who is a philologist by education, said that the "call against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan" was contained in the phrase "where there is Armenia, there is Karabakh."

Alexander Lapshin also spoke ironically about the "black list" of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and about his inclusion thereto, and said that "he would cross the borders as many times as necessary," Ms Bairamova has noted.

Besides, according to her version, Lapshin spoke unethically about Azerbaijan.

Alexander Lapshin himself said about his phrase "where there is Armenia, there is Karabakh" that he had meant the geographical proximity of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

As a sign of respect for both nations, "he had used the name of Karabakh in both Azerbaijani and Armenian languages," Lapshin said, explaining the use of the term "Artsakh".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.