Jehovah’s Witnesses have 19 applications against Azerbaijan pending with European Court of Human Rights
Religious intolerance is escalating in Azerbaijan as law-enforcement authorities impose heavy fines on Jehovah’s Witnesses and imprison them. Authorities are criminally prosecuting the Witnesses for meeting together for worship and for talking to others about their beliefs, the site Jehovah’s Witnesses reports.
According to the article, police investigator criminally charged two of Jehovah’s Witnesses — Irina Zakharchenko, a partially disabled 55-year-old widow, and 38-year-old Valida Jabrayilova, who is the primary caregiver for her mother — with distributing Bible literature without “appropriate permission.” Тhe charge brought against the women was for a crime committed as an organized group, which carries a stiff fine, ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 manats (USD 6,675 to 8,583) or two to five years’ imprisonment. Оn February 17, 2015 the Sabail District Court in Baku placed the women in pretrial detention out of the concern that the women were likely to commit the act again and to “escape and hide from investigation.”
As the article has it, the attorney for the women appealed the decision. In the hearing in Baku Appeal Court neither the prosecutor nor the MNS (Ministry of National Security) investigator presented any evidence supporting the need for pretrial detention. Nonetheless, the court denied the appeals, and Ms. Zakharchenko and Ms. Jabrayilova were returned to the jail.
On March 6, 2015, two groups from the MNS obtained court orders and searched the homes of Ms. Zakharchenko and Ms. Jabrayilova, confiscating their religious literature, personal notebooks, a computer, and a mobile phone. On March 10, 2015, the MNS, the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations, and the police presented court orders to search Jehovah’s Witnesses’ house of worship. Also, the MNS has summoned a number of Witnesses in Baku for interrogation in this case. Ms. Zakharchenko and Ms. Jabrayilova have prepared a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur and Arbitrary Detention Group requesting intervention. A local lawyer is preparing a motion in trial court to substitute pretrial detention with house arrest.
It is also reported in the article that in Ganja, authorities have imposed fines of 1500-2000 manats (USD 1430-1910) on those attending religious meetings of the Witnesses and have detained some in jail. In October 2014, courts in Ganja jailed three Witnesses and a man attending their religious services for nonpayment of fines imposed upon them for meeting for worship. Though they had made partial payments, authorities jailed them from 3 to 20 days.
“To me, 1,500 manats (USD 1,430) is a lot of money. . . . My initial reaction was not to pay the fine because I consider myself innocent,” the man worshipping with the Witnesses said. Two Witness men also felt that their punishment was unjust and reported that the authorities treated them like criminals. The third Witness who was jailed, a woman, added that no one took into consideration that her family had a very hard financial situation, that she provided care for her disabled mother, and that she voluntarily began paying the fine. The four have completed their jail sentences, but the court still demands full payment of the fines, otherwise it may again order their detention.
It is highlighted in the article that officials in Azerbaijan have been using various methods to obstruct the religious activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Currently, Jehovah’s Witnesses have 19 applications against Azerbaijan pending with the European Court of Human Rights.
Related:
While ‘‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’’ were meeting Azerbaijani officials, their supporters were arrested
EurasiaNet: Jehovah’s Witnesses just like Islamist radicals are persecuted in Azerbaijan
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