MP Navumovich: We have no political prisoners, there are lawbreakers
The Armenian PACE representative has asked Belarusian MP Andrei Navumovich about his attitude to the detention of blogger Andrei Lapshyn in Belarus and the decision to extradite him to Azerbaijan.
The question was asked during the hearings “Situation in Belarus” in the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy on January 24.
Navumovich: “The question needs to be analyzed impartially. I would only like to note that there are no political prisoners in Belarus. There are citizens violating the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.”
Lawyer Valyantsin Stefanovich disagrees with the MP. Belarusian human rights defenders do not support the very practice of arresting bloggers who have not done any damage to the national or civil security, he said.
Stefanovich: “Furthermore, we disagree with the extradition to a country that has announced that a criminal case would be started against such bloggers.”
He considers this extradition practice immoral, Stefanovich said.
