Russian-Israeli Blogger Lapshin Tours the Americas, Still in Pursuit of Justice

Lapshin also has problems with Russian law enforcement agencies, he said, because he published a number of articles in support of Ukraine and against the current war. For this reason, when his father passed away in Russia this January, Lapshin was unable to go to his funeral for fear that he might be arrested. Similarly his wife could not visit her family in Belarus and Moldova for almost six years, so their daughter has not been able to see her maternal grandparents.

The list of dangerous countries for the Lapshins includes all of the former Soviet Union except Armenia, but after stating this, he hesitated and said, “I just said except Armenia, but who knows? Armenia is under huge Russian influence.”

Armenia

Lapshin continues to pursue his own case against Azerbaijan’s violations of human rights but is committed also to helping Armenia. He understood, he said, that “it would be better for me, my family and for our safety, to just leave it aside and continue our old life.” However, he continued, “I just cannot abandon what I do in favor of Armenia and Artsakh because I have many friends in Armenia. Some of them were killed during the second Karabakh war. I actually love this country, so I feel in Armenia like my second home.”

He added, “Look, six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. A lot of Armenians actually supported Jews and saved their lives. So, I feel the same.”

He stressed: “Of course I do not receive any support from the government of Armenia.” Furthermore, the fact that Armenia, facing an existential threat, is trying to sign a peace agreement with both Azerbaijan and Turkey, seems to create complicated motivations. Lapshin said, “Even some of the politicians in Armenia tried to convince me to leave it aside, for some political reasons. What I do against Azerbaijan, somehow, in some ways, is against the national interests of the current Armenian government…So I feel a bit alone in this fighting, but this time, fortunately, I have a lot of friends, both Armenian friends, and American and European friends, who actually support me.”

Human Rights

The human rights organizations in New York and elsewhere already know about Lapshin’s personal case and supported him publicly during his arrest. Lapshin said that though they were aware also of issues concerning Azerbaijani opposition leaders and journalists in exile, they did not seem very informed about what was going on inside Azerbaijan, including the deaths and large numbers of refugees caused by the second Karabakh war. He declared, “So I have to explain to them from the zero level about what is going on. I was really surprised that I was the first person – and I am not Armenian – to bring them the point of view of the 120,000 inhabitants of Artsakh.”

When he asked Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Lapshin related, whether they had had meetings with Armenian community or governmental representatives, they replied in the negative.

However, it should be noted that a Google search brings up many reports from these organizations covering Artsakh topics, indicating that they are well informed. Consequently, it may be speculated that different divisions of these organizations (often located in different cities and countries) may be the ones specializing on issues concerning Artsakh and Armenia.

When asked about what result he thought his meeting with the New York organizations would have, he said they will prepare a press release about the meeting and put this documentation in their files on the case of Azerbaijan. He said he hoped they would use it in their conferences on human rights and mention his case, as well as the situation in Artsakh.

He added, “I was just happy to bring up Armenian prisoners of war, and just tell them about experiences in Azerbaijani jail, because from the point of view of the human rights organizations, I am the only person who has suffered from Azerbaijan. It is amazing.” He said that they had not spoken with any Armenian prisoners of war who had been tortured.

Lapshin related that while he was in the Kurdakhani prison in Azerbaijan, he had an opportunity to speak with the head of the prison, Col. Rashid Safarov. The latter told Lapshin that they kept between 4 and 8 Armenians imprisoned, supposedly because they were terrorists who crossed the border, and secondly, for purposes of exchange with Armenian prisoners. Currently, Lapshin said, according to what some Azerbaijani opposition leaders, mostly Talysh, told him, there are between 40 and 60 Armenian prisoners of war held in the same prison.

While in Armenia, Lapshin met several former prisoners of war who had been raped in that jail and tried to convince them to go with him to the US and Europe to testify about this, but, Lapshin said, they felt uncomfortable about talking about such experiences openly due to Armenian social norms or culture.

They also said that there were strict warnings from Armenian intelligence services for them not to communicate with journalists or human rights activists. One can speculate that if true, this is due to the precarious current situation of Armenia, which is doing anything in its power to avoid a new war of aggression by Azerbaijan.

Lapshin on his current trip is attempting to continue contacts with Azerbaijanis critical of the current regime. He related that on his way to America, he had a stopover in Paris, France, where he met with an Azerbaijani journalist in exile named Mahammad Mirzali. Last year he was stabbed at least 16 times by a number of Azerbaijanis in Nantes, France, but after recovering continued to publish articles and videos against the regime.

The Americas

In America, Lapshin said he hoped to meet with a formerly extremely wealthy businessman Ilgar Hajiyev, who used to be friends with Ilham Aliyev but now lives in the US as a refugee and struggles for justice against corruption in both Azerbaijan and Russia.

Lapshin said that he keeps in touch with the Jewish community in the United States but they do not support as a group his human rights actions. He said, “Most of the Jews here in New York – I am telling about my friends and people in the human rights field – are somehow a little bit confused with me because most of them tell me, look, we have enough trouble with the Palestinians. Why do you need to deal with Azerbaijan, because Azerbaijan is actually the ally of Israel. Okay, you had a bad experience with Azerbaijan, but still, you have to think globally. This is realpolitik. What you do against Azerbaijan is against the national interest of Israel.”

In fact, he said, “Jews here, all the Jewish organizations in New York and Washington, told me the straight way, you cannot expect support from us if what you do is against our interests, because our interests are the same interests as Israel.”

Lapshin, traveling with his wife and daughter, first came to Canada, where he met with human rights organizations and the Armenian community. After going from Toronto to New York, he plans to go to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Dallas, Miami, and probably Chicago, as well as Vancouver in Canada.

During these trips, Lapshin said, “When I meet with the Armenian communities here in the United States and Canada, or in any place, I am trying to explain to them that it is very important to be persistent in what you do.” In other words, they should not give up in the Armenian cause. However, Lapshin said that after the second Karabakh war, “I think the Armenian community is so divided and weak.” There is mistrust of the Armenian government and each other, he said, and this situation made him feel emotionally depressed.

While he has contacted the Armenian National Committee of America and the Armenian Assembly of America in the past, he said that he has not received any support from them now. Nevertheless, he said that at least half of his meetings in America are organized by local Armenians, while Lapshin himself organizes the other half. He declared, “If someone wants to invite me for meetings, with human rights activists or politicians even on the state level I will be more than happy [to oblige].” His email is puerrtto@gmail.com.

Lapshin succinctly summarized the goal of his current trip as follows: “I travel for the living, for meetings, and for my revenge against the Azerbaijani government.” So in addition to calling attention to Azerbaijani human rights abuses and the situation in Artsakh and Armenia through meetings and talks, Lapshin is working as a travel blogger and journalist to support himself. He gave the example of going to the Manhattan Bridge in New York City after his meetings with Amnesty International and Human Rights watch to film a documentary in connection with the movie “Once Upon a Time in America” (featuring Robert De Niro), which itself was filmed in front of that bridge.

In September, the Lapshin family already has tickets booked to go from New York to Israel, where Aleksander’s wife can only remain for 90 days at a time. He is planning to go to Armenia after that, but, he said that due to the unstable political situation, “I can never know if I am going to be allowed to enter Armenia.”