Azerbaijan Jails 10 over Eurovision Plot

A court in Azerbaijan on Monday jailed another 10 people on charges of plotting attacks during the Eurovision Song Contest hosted last year by the ex-Soviet state.

A source at the court for serious crimes in the capital Baku told Agence France Presse they were sentenced to jail terms of three to 10 years.

The verdict brings to at least 46 the number of people convicted on charges of planning attacks during the Eurovision pop extravaganza, which Azerbaijan hosted in May 2012.

The security ministry in the tightly controlled Caspian Sea country claimed to have foiled a bid to stage attacks during the glitzy songfest and arrested some 40 suspects.

The ministry said at the time that the group had links with neighboring 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.

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.