Azerbaijan convicts 3 more over Eurovision plot

A court in Azerbaijan on Friday sentenced three people to lengthy jail terms for plotting a "terrorist" attack during the Eurovision Song Contest hosted by the country last year. "The court for serious crimes has sentenced three citizens of Azerbaijan to prison sentences from 11 to 12 years for attempting to blow up the Israeli embassy on the eve of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku," court documents said. Friday's sentencing brings to at least seven the number of people convicted on charges of plotting attacks during Eurovision in May 2012 after four others were found guilty in December. Azerbaijan's security ministry said after the glitzy songfest that it had foiled a bid to stage "terrorist" attacks while the ex-Soviet country was hosting the pop extravaganza and arrested 40 suspected plotters. The ministry said at the time that the group had links with neighbouring Iran and was planning attacks on the concert hall where Eurovision was held, as well as on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, police buildings, hotels used by foreigners, mosques and other religious sites in the Caucasus state. Security services detained the alleged gang during operations in various cities and regions of the country, the ministry said without giving dates. Eurovision, watched by more than 100 million people worldwide, was the biggest cultural event staged in Azerbaijan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The authorities spent hundreds of millions of dollars building the Crystal Hall venue and beautifying the capital ahead of the competition in an attempt to win acclaim for the Caspian Sea state, previously known mainly as an energy exporter on Europe's eastern fringe. But the run-up to the competition was marked by demonstrations by opposition activists against the country's lacklustre record on human rights, which saw dozens of people detained by police. The 2012 contest was won by Swedish singer Loreen.