CANBERRA: On 7-8 February 2024, Alexander Lapshin – the Jewish-Ukrainian journalist and political prisoner previously held by Azerbaijan – met with over a dozen Australian parliamentarians to expose the real Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
Facilitated by the Armenian National Committee of Australia National Office, Lapshin, who was held in solitary confinement in Azerbaijani prisons for seven months in 2017, travelled to Australia to amplify the voices of Armenian prisoners currently held in similar prisons across Azerbaijan.
The meetings were conducted during the first Federal parliamentary sitting in the nation’s capital, Canberra, where Lapshin met with representatives from all major political parties including Mr Jerome Laxale MP, Mr Josh Burns MP, Ms Sophie Scamps MP, Ms Kylea Tink MP, Senator Jordon Steele-John, Senator Simon Birmingham, Senator Hollie Hughes, Senator Maria Kovacic, Mr Michael Sukkar MP, Senator Claire Chandler, Senator Andrew Bragg, Senator Linda Reynolds and Senator Dave Sharma.
The former political prisoner of the criminal petro-dictatorship of Azerbaijan also shared an audience with representatives from the Australian Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Lapshin, who is visiting Australia for the first time on official business, said, “The purpose of my visit to Australia is to bring greater attention to the brutal treatment faced by current political prisoners held by the Azerbaijani government and the ethnic cleansing committed by Azerbaijan by speaking about my own personal experiences with this criminal regime.”
ANC-AU Executive Director Michael Kolokossian thanked Lapshin on behalf of the Armenian-Australian community for visiting Australia and bringing much-needed attention to the ongoing imprisonment of our compatriots.
