- Title: Azeri court sentences Russian-Israeli blogger to three years in jail
- Date: 20th July 2017
- Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (FILE - FEBRUARY 8, 2017) (REUTERS) PLANE TAXIING ON RUNWAY PLANE'S COCKPIT ARMED POLICE ON AIRFIELD / PLANE DOOR OPENING ARMED POLICE VARIOUS OF ISRAELI-RUSSIAN BLOGGER ALEXANDER LAPSHIN ESCORTED BY ARMED POLICEMEN LAPSHIN GETTING OFF PLANE, BEING ESCORTED ACROSS AIRFIELD, THROUGH AIRPORT HALL
- Embargoed: 3rd August 2017 11:55
- Keywords: Azerbaijan blogger Alexander Lapshin court sentence jail Israel
- Location: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
- City: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
- Country: Azerbaijan
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0026QIUPTZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced an Israeli-Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin to three years in jail on Thursday (July 20) for illegally crossing the country's border.
Baku authorities accuse the popular blogger of travelling to the Armenian-controlled parts of disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan considers its sovereign territory.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians. Clashes over control of the region first erupted in 1991, a ceasefire was agreed in 1994 but Azerbaijan and Armenia have regularly trade accusations of violence around the breakaway region and along the Azeri-Armenian border.
Lapshin was detained in Belarus last year and extradited to Azerbaijan in February.
The 40-year-old blogger holds Russian, Israeli and Ukrainian citizenships.
Lapshin's lawyer Eduard Chernin said that Lapshin plans to appeal the sentence and will seek extradition to one of his home countries. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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