Jehovah’s Witnesses

For Immediate Release
November 30, 2011

Fines exceeding $12,000 imposed for attending religious meeting in Azerbaijan

GANJA, Azerbaijan—On Sunday, November 20, 2011, police officers again raided a peaceful meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city of Ganja. Six Witnesses were taken to the Kapaz District Court later that day where Judge Nuru Guliyev convicted them for attending religious meetings without government authorization. Two of the Witnesses were fined 2,000 AZN (approximately $2,530) each, and four others were each fined 1,500 AZN (approximately $1,900). For Rashad Niftaliyev, this is the third time in the past year that he has been fined for the “crime” of attending a peaceful religious meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Firdovsi Karimov, head of the local branch of the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations (SCWRA), stated in court that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to conduct any congregation meetings in Ganja because they do not have State registration there. The reality is that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have registration in Ganja because the SCWRA has repeatedly refused to grant it. The Witnesses’ first application was denied for alleged technical deficiencies, and their latest application, filed with the SCWRA on June 8, 2011, has never been answered.

The recent incidents also raise concerns about the situation in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where Jehovah’s Witnesses have been refused reregistration. Leonid Moroz, chairman of the Baku Religious Community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, stated: “The latest incidents in Ganja are a continuation of the State’s attempts to eradicate the peaceful religious activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ganja. We are concerned that such attacks could spread to other cities in Azerbaijan, including Baku.”

The European Court of Human Rights has made it clear that lack of registration alone is insufficient justification for State interference. The Court held that member states of the Council of Europe, such as Azerbaijan, must not “sanction individual members of an unregistered religious denomination for praying or otherwise manifesting their religious beliefs. To admit the contrary would amount to the exclusion of minority religious beliefs that are not formally registered with the State and, consequently, would amount to admitting that a State can dictate what a person must believe.”

Media Contacts:
J. R. Brown, Office of Public Information, tel. +1 718 560 5600
Belgium: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +32 2 782 0015
Britain: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +44 208 906 2211
Legal Contact: Office of General Counsel, tel. +1 845 306 0711