IRFN (Oct 2-Oct 9): Azerbaijan: Court Fails to Overturn Pastor's Prison Sentence

Oct 9, 2007

International Religious Freedom Archive
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1. Azerbaijan: Court Fails to Overturn Pastor's Prison Sentence (Oct. 3)
2. Iraq: Extremists Beat, Murder "un-Islamic" Women (Oct. 4)
3. Uzbekistan: Protestants Detained, Threatened by Police (Oct. 4)
4. India: Chhattisgarh's Anti-Conversion Law Reviewed by Attorney General (Oct. 6)
5. Nigeria: Playwright's Shari'a Satire Banned (Oct. 7)
6. Burmese Junta Shuts Buddhist Seminaries, Orders Novices to Return Home (Oct. 8)
7. China: Missing Protestants Re-Appear in Labor Camps (Oct. 8)

Features:
An inside look at Nigeria's Shari'a courts, from the BBC

The Patriarch of the Catholic Coptic Church on why Egypt's legal system is difficult for Christians, courtesy of the Catholic Information Service for Africa

1. Azerbaijan: Court Fails to Overturn Pastor's Prison Sentence
October 3
Sheki, Azerbaijan
Forum 18 reports that an appeals court in the town of Sheki, Azerbaijan, refused to overturn a prison sentence for Baptist pastor Zaur Balaev, who was given two years for allegedly attacking police who conducted a raid on an "illegal" religious service at which he was present. Members of Balaev’s congregation were able to testify on his behalf. Balaev, from the northern town of Aliabad, will serve out his sentence in a labor camp.

2. Iraq: Extremists Beat, Murder "un-Islamic" Women
October 4
Basra, Iraq
McClatchy Newspapers reports that gangs of extremists have begun to target women in Basra whom they consider "un-Islamic", killing up to fifteen a month. The gangs, which patrol Basra in cars or on motorbikes, have beaten and killed women whom they found without a headscarf, or wearing clothing that they deemed to be too Western. Men in Basra have also found themselves victims of violence due to their choice of clothing or hairstyle. Basra, an area which is mostly Shiite, has been unable to establish order as various militias fight for power in the area.

3. Uzbekistan: Protestants Detained, Threatened by Police
October 4
Jakurgan, Uzbekistan
Forum 18 reports that a group of Protestants from the town of Jakurgan, southern Uzbekistan, were detained, questioned, and threatened by police, who allegedly forced one member of the congregation to sign a statement at knifepoint, and threatened other members with injury if they returned to the town. The group, all members of the Surkhandarya Protestant Church, were celebrating the birthday of one of their congregation when the party was raided by police. A local officer, asked by Forum 18 to explain the detentions, offered that the congregation "had a lot of religious books, which is illegal".

4. India: Chhattisgarh's Anti-Conversion Law Reviewed by Attorney General
October 6
Chhattisgarh, India
The Times of India reports that the governor of Chhattisgarh State, E.S.L. Narasimhan, has turned over a draft of the state's proposed anti-conversion law to India's attorney general for a legal opinion. The clarification is thought to relate to a provision which would allow a person to convert back to the faith of their ancestors, if their parents had converted away from that faith and raised them in a new one. The bill, which was passed by the state assembly last year, has not yet received the governor's approval.

5. Nigeria: Playwright's Shari'a Satire Banned
October 7
Kaduna, Nigeria
Agence France-Presse reports that Shehu Sani, a Nigerian playwright, has been banned from selling, showing or circulating his play, "Phantom Crescent", a satire which implies that Nigerian politicians favor the implementation of Shari'a law as a way to protect themselves from potential opposition when they abuse their political power. Sani plans to contest the ban in court today (Tuesday). Since 1999, twelve of Nigeria's states have introduced a strict version of Shari'a law, and most of the northern part of the country now follows the Islamic legal system.

6. Burmese Junta Shuts Buddhist Seminaries, Orders Novices to Return Home
October 8
Myanmar
AsiaNews reports that the Burmese junta is now engaged in a defamatory campaign against Buddhist monks who led a peaceful protest against the government, telling the people that the monks did not follow the teachings of the Buddha and deserved to be punished for their disobedience. Meanwhile, they have also taken steps to further restrict the monks' religious freedom, closing seminaries and sending the novice monks out of the cities and back to their villages. As many as 135 monks remain in detention, along with 78 civilians, as reports surface that soldiers have burnt members of the opposition alive in a crematorium outside Yangon, where they generally dispose of the bodies of wounded detainees.

7. China: Missing Protestants Re-Appear in Labor Camps
October 8
Beijing, China
China Aid reports that nine Protestant leaders, who had been missing since July 15, turned up a few days ago in forced labor camps in China. One, a forty-two-year-old woman, had evidently been tortured while in prison, and required an emergency hysterectomy as a result. The nine, detained during a service at a private home, were accused of "making use of an evil cult organization to undermine the enforcement of State laws". The "evidence" of their crimes included "Christian hymns" and "showing a Jesus film in a nursing home and praying for the disabled elderly men for healing from God".