The incidents of intolerance against the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), a New Islamic Religious Movement opposed in Muslim-majority countries such as Azerbaijan and Turkey, but also in unsuspected human rights champions such as Sweden, continue. Human Rights Without Frontiers' director Willy Fautré reports in an article reproduced below that in Azerbaijan there have been arrests among AROPL worshippers for being guilty of peacefully expressing their faith in public.
AZERBAIJAN: 11 members of a religious group arrested for publicly expressing their faith
Two of them were sentenced to 30 days in prison
By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (26.07.2024) - Eleven members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, a Shia-derivative new religious movement founded in 1999, were arrested on 20 July 2024 for publicly manifesting their faith in Fountain Square, in Baku. Two of them were sentenced to a minimum of 30 days in prison for "hooliganism."
Worshippers of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light peacefully expressing their faith in public. Photo HRWF
When the members of the religious community were arrested, they were holding up images of their religious leaders and sharing their beliefs which dissent from Shia Islam as it is regulated in the country.
The arrested people were all citizens of Azerbaijan: 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.
Within ten minutes, about a dozen police officers and military personnel surrounded them, disrupted their peaceful activity and forcefully took them to the Sabayil District Police Department No 9 in Baku where they were forcefully detained. The incident was captured on video by a bystander and is currently circulating on social media.
The detained members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light were charged with "resisting police" (Article 315 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code) and "disturbing public order" (Article 233 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code). These charges are commonly used in Azerbaijan against dissidents and those having “unconventional” beliefs or opinions.
Expressing and sharing one’s beliefs is a cornerstone of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a right exercised by the new religious movement active for a few years in Azerbaijan which prevents their members from practicing their faith, forces them to conceal their beliefs or face imprisonment.
The detained believers were released on 22 July 2024 but remained under investigation by the State Committee on Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan. They were summoned to appear at the committee the following two days. During their detention, they were threatened with rape by their interrogators if they continued to speak about their religion. Authorities appeared particularly disturbed by the media attention the incident attracted, focusing their investigation on those involved in filming and posting the event online.
There were also reports that undercover police officers, posing as representatives from Human Rights Watch, contacted members of the religious community after the incident, attempting to gather more information about their gatherings.
Shortly after their release, two of the community members, Rustam Gasimli and Neriman Shabanzade returned to Fountain Square to resume their activity of peacefully distributing flyers about their faith. Police officers confiscated their phones and arrested them again immediately. Their missionary activities and arrest were broadcast live on TikTok, but they became unreachable following their detention.
After 24 hours of enforced disappearance, Gasimli and Shabanzade reappeared at the Sabail District Court on 24 July. They were sentenced to a minimum of 30 days in prison for "hooliganism" (Article 510 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code) and "disobedience to a police officer" (Article 535.1 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code).
Prominent human rights lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova, affiliated with the European Human Rights Advocacy Center, has taken on their defense. She reported that both individuals suffered beatings and severe abuse while in detention. Sadigova plans to appeal the court's decision, viewing it as an attempt to intimidate the members of the community. The charges of "hooliganism" are considered outrageous by their defenders, given the peaceful nature of their flyer distribution.
On 25 July, the remaining members of the community were called to the police station one more time. During the interrogation they were threatened to suffer the same fate as Gasimli and Shabanzade if they continued their missionary work. They were questioned about their faith and its history in Azerbaijan, as well as the names and number of their coreligionists in Azerbaijan. They were also asked about their activities and the core tenets of their faith. They were threatened to be investigated under Article 515 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code (Violation of the rules for the establishment and operation of religious organizations) if they did not put an end to their activities.
Source: HRWF
