Russian travel blogger jailed 3 years in Azerbaijan

A Court in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan on Thursday, sentenced Russian travel blogger Alexander Lapshin, to three years in prison for visiting the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The region, which is about 4,500 square kilometres within predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan, is controlled by Christian Armenian separatists.

Azerbaijan and neighbouring Armenia have fought over the land for decades.

Lapshin, who also has Israeli and Ukrainian citizenship, was found guilty of crossing into the region from the Armenian side without Azerbaijan’s authorization.

He was detained in Belarus in 2016 and extradited to Azerbaijan.