ECHR Rejects Azerbaijan's Appeal in Lapshin Case

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) has upheld a decision from May 20, determining that the Azerbaijani authorities were guilty of the illegal detention, torture, and attempted murder of the well-known blogger Alexander Lapshin in a Baku prison. The court ordered Baku to pay Lapshin €30,000 in compensation.

“I am glad that the Strasbourg court has made such a decision,” said Alexander Lapshin to Deutsche Welle, while also finding it strange that Baku appealed to the court for a review of the case, noting that the ECHR generally does not overturn its decisions 99% of the time. He pointed out that his 'crime' was visiting the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as a tourist in 2011.