BAKU: A court in Azerbaijan yesterday sentenced three people to life in prison and another 26 to lengthy jail terms on charges of plotting attacks during the Eurovision Song Contest last year.
A source at the court for serious crimes in the capital Baku said that three Azerbaijani citizens were given life sentences, while the remaining defendants were sentenced to jail terms of between nine and 15 years.
Yesterday’s hearing brings to at least 36 the number of people convicted on charges of planning attacks during the Eurovision, which Azerbaijan hosted in May 2012, after seven others were found guilty at earlier hearings.
The security ministry in the tightly controlled Caspian Sea country claimed to have foiled a bid to stage “terrorist” attacks during the glitzy songfest and arrested some 40 suspects.
Slovenian minister resigns over stalled reforms
LJUBLJANA: Slovenia’s health minister resigned yesterday, the second minister to do so in a week, citing the impossibility of passing necessary health reforms with the four-member coalition.
“There simply is no solution (for the health system) that would be efficient and would satisfy all the parties,” Tomaz Gantar said in his resignation letter, which he handed to Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek.
The health ministry has also seen its budget cut by some ¤300m ($400m) due to austerity measures introduced over the last four years to stabilise the eurozone country’s public finances, leading to lower-quality services and making its functioning very hard, he added.
Gantar’s resignation follows the departure last week of Economy Minister Stanko Stepisnik.
Agencies
