Azerbaijani Authorities Continue Pursuing Lapshin

Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin has reported on his Facebook page that an attempt was made to detain and abduct him in the Baltic. According to the blogger, the organizer of the attempts is Baku.

“I am reporting what is happening to me. Armenian media published and aired my words yesterday, where I talk about Baku's attempt to arrest me in the Baltic. Now let me tell you a little more in detail,” he wrote.

The blogger recalls that on December 12, an Azerbaijani Talysh blogger, Elvin Isayev, was abducted in Kyiv and taken to Baku: “My situation and Isayev's situation have only a distant connection. I am not personally acquainted with him, we are not friends; the only thing that connects us is our brief correspondence about which country he can safely move to from Russia. On the same day, the Azerbaijani State Security Service tried to capture Isayev in Kyiv, and in Riga, me. I received a call from people who said I should communicate before boarding my flight. The last time I had contact with these people was exactly two years ago. I was already at Liverpool Street station and had to miss my train to the airport. I was informed that the Azerbaijani State Security Service had sent inquiries about my detention to several countries in the Baltic and a couple of other countries,” he stated.

The blogger believes that the Azerbaijani State Security Service realizes that searching for him through Interpol is pointless since at least three countries are seriously interested in ensuring that he does not end up in Baku, and if such a request is made to Interpol, Lapshin will be notified within a matter of hours.

“In London, I was asked why they want you. They are spending so many operational resources against you; I did not know what to reply since I do not pose a particular threat to Baku and am not an object of operational interest. I assume the reasons are personal from Aliyev. They did not respond to my statement,” he wrote.