Blogger Lapshin interviewed by Mexican Media About his Jailing in Azerbaijan
By Carlos Cordero/Quadratín México
To this day, eight years after having been in an Azerbaijani prison for seven months, Alexander Lapshin says that, unfortunately, the threats and persecution of that government continue against him.
The renowned journalist and travel blogger granted an interview to Quadratín México to explain the situation his life has been going through since December 2016, when he was arrested by Belarusian armed forces for having visited the prohibited territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
During his visit to Mexico City, Lapshin claims to know some politicians in Mexico whose names he omits to mention, so as not to jeopardize the support they have given him. “They have been helping me since my last visit when I was out of Mexico. I met with some Mexican senators and I keep in touch with one of them via WhatsApp,” he said in an interview, revealing that he was even warned to be careful in Central America because Belarus sent a request to have him arrested if he visited Cuba, Venezuela, or Nicaragua. He meets with Mexican senators.
The travel blogger claims not to feel safe in Mexico because of the Azerbaijani government. He even expresses his astonishment and shame over the Azeri monument with the statue of Heydar Aliyev, installed on Paseo de la Reforma and later removed due to protests and controversies.
“There are many different problems, but Mexico is an independent and democratic country, so how come they put up a monument to the dictator?” he criticizes, comparing it to a monument to some drug trafficker in Mexico or to former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, pointing out that Aliyev was someone who committed genocide against Armenian Christians.
Alexander Lapshin reported having visited the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) and pretended to be a refugee just to see what would happen. “I couldn’t understand it. It’s like Africa, not Mexico City. You have to go to an industrial zone. It’s a not-so-good place, with a lot of drugged-up people and surrounded by different factories. It’s very unsafe. It’s a very dangerous area of Mexico City to stay in, so when I arrived there with my wife and young daughter, we were in danger. It was a mafia,” he recounts.
Alexander Lapshin describes himself as a travel blogger and journalist, “so I was never interested in politics.” However, he has had two attempts on his life and on one occasion nearly died while deprived of his liberty. Against all court rulings to obtain his freedom, Lapshin was extradited and taken to a prison in Baku, where he remained locked up for seven interminable months. “I spent seven months in jail. It was solitary confinement. I was in a small cell with a toilet measuring three square meters, no windows; it was just a hole in the concrete, just the hole. No water. They brought me water in a bottle and allowed me to shower once every 10 days. It was very, very hot, like in Mexico. Only once in 10 days was I allowed to take a shower,” he shares. During his unfortunate confinement, the Israeli journalist recounts that there was no television or books either. “Simply nothing. I spent seven months, and they finally took me to court, and before the courts, I had a meeting with the local prosecutor and the police investigator, and they told me, ‘Look, you have to plead guilty for crossing illegally.’”
After three months of confinement, Lapshin was allowed to meet with Israel’s ambassador to Russia, who told him his situation was dire. “We’re trying to help you, but they said, ‘Look, this is a personal vendetta by the president of Azerbaijan,’” they warned him. He laments that many journalists in Latin America find themselves in a very difficult situation. “Journalists, we must support each other.” Lapshin laments that many journalists in Latin America find themselves in a very complicated situation. “I think, above all, we must support each other, because we are all connected to a difficult part of the world,” he says.
