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Thirteen Jehovah's Witnesses were detained during a religious meeting in Baku. Cases were prepared against 12 others present at the meeting under Article 299.0.2 of the Administrative Code which punishes for "violating legislation on holding religious meetings, marches, and other religious ceremonies" with fines for individuals of between 1,500 and 2,000 Manats, community members told Forum 18 News Service 

According to the report, a case was prepared against Georgian citizen Goderdzi Kvaratskhelia under Article 300.0.4 of the Code of Administrative Offences. This punishes "the conduct of religious propaganda by foreigners or stateless persons," with fines for individuals of between 2,000 and 2,500 Manats. Foreign citizens can also be ordered deported. (2,000 Manats is equivalent to about 1,900 US Dollars.)

In a closed hearing on 6 July, Baku's Qaradag District Court convicted Kvaratskhelia. He was not fined, but the Judge ordered his deportation from Azerbaijan, Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18. At hearings on 8 and 9 July, the same court convicted 12 other Jehovah's Witnesses under Article 299.0.2. They too were not fined, but the Judges gave each of them an official warning.

"The consulate of Georgia in Baku has not been notified about the deportation of Mr. Goderdzi Kvaratskhelia and the Foreign Ministry has not received any notification about the said deportation either," the Georgian Foreign Ministry told Forum 18.

Forum 18 highlights that Jehovah's Witnesses had state registration from 1999 to 2009. However, the State Committee rejected their re-registration application in 2010. Many other religious communities – including mosques and almost all Protestant Christian communities – also had their 2009 re-registration applications rejected or ignored. Even religious communities that have state registration – such as the two Georgian Orthodox parishes in Gakh Region – cannot function properly since the denial of re-entry to their priest, Georgian citizen Fr Demetre Tetruashvili.

On 15 July 2015, Judges at Sheki Appeal Court rejected appeals by two Jehovah's Witnesses, Matanat Qurbanova and Saadat Muradhasilova, sisters, who had been detained for discussing their faith in the street. The Judge fined each of the sisters 1,500 Manats, a sum that constitutes more than three months' average wages in Azerbaijan. The sisters were detained on the streets of the town Zakatala on 9 November 2014 when talking about their faith with others and offering religious literature. They were taken to the police station and questioned for about four hours. They were summoned back for questioning on the next two days, according to Forum 18.

As part of a tight system of religious censorship, all religious literature printed in or imported into Azerbaijan requires compulsory prior written approval from the State Committee. If it grants such permission, the State Committee also specifies the number of copies a religious community is given permission for. The Old Testament, the writings of Islamic theologian Said Nursi, and some Jehovah's Witness texts are on a police list of banned religious literature, Forum 18 stresses.

Four Sunni Muslims prisoners of conscience from Baku were jailed in July 2015, under Criminal Code Article 167-2, for selling religious books without state permission. Two female Jehovah's Witnesses, Irina Zakharchenko and Valida Jabrayilova, were arrested under the same Article. On 14 July, Judge Gulzar Rzayeva of the Supreme Court in Baku rejected the appeal by bookseller Kamran Abdiyev. He had been punished for selling religious books, which had not undergone the State Committee's religious censorship. A total of 244 Muslim books were confiscated from him in summer 2014.

Abdiyev, from Baku, had been found guilty at Qaradag District Court on 9 September 2014 under Criminal Code Article 167-2.1. He was fined 6,000 Manats, representing about 18 months' average wages. On 4 December 2014, Baku Appeal Court rejected his appeal. He lodged his appeal to the Supreme Court on 1 April 2015, and the case was assigned to Judge Rzayeva. Rzyayeva and the other judges’ telephones remained unanswered or engaged when Forum 18 called.

A 31 July meeting at the State Committee in Baku to review its work from January to June 2015 heard that it denied permission to 147 religious publications during that period out of 632. It claimed that banning their import and/or distribution was to prevent books "propagating religious intolerance, discrimination or extremism." However, State Committee censorship decisions are not made public, so it is impossible to establish whether the statement was truthful or not. The report did not explain why many religious communities were rejected state registration or have had their applications ignored since 2009, Forum 18 highlights.
In 2014, Azerbaijan was among the countries with a high level of religious intolerance, according to the report “Religious Freedom 2014” by Catholic charity organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Related:
Religious Freedom 2014: Azerbaijan is among countries with high level of religious intolerance 
Jehovah’s Witnesses have 19 applications against Azerbaijan pending with European Court of Human Rights 
In Azerbaijan, Jehovah's Witnesses can face up to five years in prison for distributing religious literature 
While ‘‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’’ were meeting Azerbaijani officials, their supporters were arrested 
EurasiaNet: Jehovah’s Witnesses just like Islamist radicals are persecuted in Azerbaijan