Azerbaijan police detain members of religious group doing missionary work
Police in Azerbaijan have detained 11 Azeri members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light who were doing missionary work in Fountain Square in the country’s capital city Baku, the religious group said.
The individuals involved in the July 20 incident were Azeri citizens Jalal Hajiyev, Ramil Ahmadov, Tural Veliyev, Ali Yasar Jafarov, Nijat Gahramanov, Rustam Gasimli, Fegan Rahimov, Kamil Qafarli, Taleh İmanov Ali Oglu, Elnur Mammadov, and Neriman Shabanzade.
The group held up images of their religious leaders and preached about the tenets of their faith peacefully, the statement said.
Within 10 minutes, they were surrounded by 11 police officers and military personnel. The authorities informed the group that their activities were disturbing passersby.
Despite this, the missionaries continued their efforts, leading to the arbitrary detention of 11 members after an further 10 minutes.
The detained members were forcefully taken to police vehicles while still holding the images of their religious leaders.
The incident was captured on video by a bystander and sympathizer, Behruz Cebrailov and is currently circulating on social media.
The 11 members were detained at Sabayil District Police Department No. 9 in Baku.
They were held for “resisting police” (Article 315 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code) and “disturbing public order” (Article 233 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code), which are articles that are typically used in Azerbaijan against dissidents and those with unconventional opinions.
The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light strongly condemns this violation of their right to manifest their faith.
The religious group said that the detentions were in contravention of Azerbaijan’s national laws.
The group referred to Article 48 of the country’s constitution, which says that everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, everyone has the right to freely determine his own approach to religion, to profess individually or together with others any religion or to profess no religion, and to express and disseminate his beliefs concerning his approach to religion, and religious rituals may be freely performed if they do not disturb public order and are not contrary to public morals.
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