Israeli blogger sues Armenia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs

Yerevan — Alexander Lapshin, an Israeli travel blogger announced on his Facebook page that he is starting legal proceedings against the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia and the Prosecutor General’s Office for his recent illegal detention at the Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan at the request of Pres. Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. He will be represented in the Administrative Court of Armenia by lawyers of Eduard Аghajanyan and Vahagn Gasparyan

Lapshin wrote: “I propose once again to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General of Armenia to assess the risks of potential political and image damage to their ministries and the interests of Armenia as a whole. I kindly ask you to solve the issue peacefully and quietly.”

“If there is no better solution then the procedure is this: at first, a request is submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia and the Armenian Police demanding to remove me from an illegal search at the request of Belarus as per the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights of of May 20, 2021, and the UN Resolution of Sept. 7, 2022, in which both Belarus and Azerbaijan were found guilty of unlawful political motives, torture in prison and attempted murder. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Armenian Police do not voluntarily remove me from the search and will persistently defend the interests of Belarus in Armenia citing obligations to Lukashenko, then we will take the case to court,” Lapshin wrote.

“I will emphasize that the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police of Armenia have both technical and legal capabilities to remove me from the investigation. If they choose to protect the Belarusian interests in violation of the decisions of the ECHR and the UN, then we will know in which ministry in Armenia the enemy of the nation and the people is hiding and where they especially love the taste of ‘Belarusian potatoes’ and ‘Caspian caviar,’ if you know what l mean,” added Lapshin.

“We will probably win the case at the Administrative Court of Armenia, if not, the trial will continue in the European Court in Strasbourg, where I have already smashed Aliyev’s Azerbaijan against the wall in 2021, despite the colossal corruption resources spent by Azerbaijan in court against me. I think that if the Armenian authorities aim to fight me in Strasbourg protecting Lukashenko’s interests, it will be difficult for them,” Lapshin concluded.