Armenian lawmakers urge to stage protest action near Belarusian Embassy in Armenia (video)
At the start of the four-day sitting of the National Assembly, Armenian lawmakers expressed their opinions on the extradition of famous blogger Alexandr Lapshin to Azerbaijan. Lawmaker Khachatur Kokobelyan said ‘this is not an ordinary case and the National Assembly as a political body should express its position on the move.’ Speaker of the National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov said that as the chairman of the Armenian-Belarusian Inter-parliamentary Cooperation Commission, he officially announced that ‘it was a shameful step.’ “It is directed against Russian, against the settlement of the Karabakh issue and against Armenia. This is a dirty deal,” Sharmazanov said. Nikol Pashinyan from the Armenian National Congress (HAK) said Lapshin was extradited to Azerbaijan by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) for his visits to Artsakh and positive opinion about the country. “This is a matter of political importance equal to the extradition of murderer Safarov by Bulgaria. I urge everyone to gather in front of the Belarusian Embassy in Yerevan at 3.00 today to express our tough stance. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign affairs must recall Armenian Ambassador to Belarus and take tough measures,” the lawmaker stressed. Republican lawmaker Khosrov Harutyunyan said Lapshin’s extradition was a blow to the CSTO system. “I call on you to participate in the action but remember that Armenia has one strategic partner, it is Russia," he said. Leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) faction, Naira Zohrabyan, said ‘this is unprecedented audacity and cynicism.’ “I propose that Armenia freeze its membership to the CSTO until the issue is regulated on the legal sphere,” she said.
