Russian Travel Blogger Jailed in Azerbaijan for 3 Years

A Russian travel blogger identified as Alexander Lapshin, was on Thursday sentenced by a Court in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, to three years in prison..

Lapshin, who was detained in Belarus in 2016 and extradited to Azerbaijan, was sentenced 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.