Azerbaijan police drag worshippers from mosque

Jun 30, 2004

From:  The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
           1350 Connecticut Avenue NW
           Washington, D.C.
           Contact: Jared N. Leland, Esq. (202) 955-0095
                         Kelly Jane Torrance

For immediate release: June 30, 2004

Azerbaijan police drag worshippers from mosque
The Becket Fund condemns act as "intolerable attack on religious freedom"

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty strongly condemned today the police raid of a mosque in Azerbaijan in which believers were beaten and dragged out of the building.

“This is an intolerable attack on religious freedom,” said Becket Fund Attorney Eric Rassbach. “The freedom to gather for worship without state interference is one of humanity’s most basic rights. What the Azerbaijan government has done today amply demonstrates their complete disdain for religious freedom, the rule of law, and the European Convention on Human Rights."

Early this morning, police in the capital city of Baku stormed the Juma Mosque while about 30 worshippers attended morning prayers. “Some members of the congregation said they were kicked and punched as police entered during morning prayers,” the BBC reported.

In May, the Becket Fund nominated Imam Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev, the Mosque’s leader, for UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Imam Ibrahimoglu was jailed during a government crackdown after the presidential election last year, an election many observers believe was rigged.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has been fighting to protect the basic rights of this congregation for months. In April, the Becket Fund formally filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights, noting that the Azeri government is threatening to use force to expel the Juma Mosque congregation “in retaliation for the pro-democracy, pro-human rights, and pro-religious freedom activities of its leadership.” Azerbaijan ratified the European Convention in April 2002.

Ilgar Ibrahimoglu is an outspoken advocate for religious freedom in Azerbaijan. The authorities have targeted him and the mosque because of his insistence on religious freedom and other human rights in the former Soviet republic. The government reportedly plans to turn the 15th-century mosque back into the carpet museum it was in Soviet times. The government today also tried to impose a new imam, which the congregation refuses to accept.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty (www.becketfund.org) is an international, interfaith, public-interest law firm that protects the free expression of all religious traditions.

Relevant Cases

• Azerbaijan -- Seizing Religious Property -- Juma Mosque