Lapshin's defence treats prosecutor's speech as unconvincing

Alexander Lapshin had twice travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh, accompanied by several people, in whose relation the criminal case was isolated into a separate proceeding, the prosecutor has stated at today's court session. Lapshin's advocate said that he would ask to acquit the blogger.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at the court session on June 30, Lapshin stated that he recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Today, the prosecutor asked to sentence Lapshin to 6.5 years in prison.

Nasir Bairamov, the state prosecutor, expressed the opinion that Lapshin's fault "was fully proved by witnesses' testimonies and expertise conclusions."

The prosecutor saw the evidence of the "planned nature" of Lapshin's trip within "an organized criminal grouping" in the fact of the blogger's meetings with "officials of the governing bodies" of Nagorno-Karabakh.

He has also pointed out that Lapshin was a member of groups on the Facebook engaged in promoting "the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh" with the aim of international recognition thereof.

At the same time, the state prosecutor noted the absence of aggravating circumstances in Lapshin's case, and regarded the fact that the blogger rears a small child as a mitigating circumstance.

The advocate Eduard Chernin called the prosecutor's speech "an actual repeat of the indictment."

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