Six foreign nationals deported from Azerbaijan BAKU, Azerbaijan-The last of six foreign nationals, Chingiz Gouseinov, a British citizen who had been held in detention after police raided a peaceful religious meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses, was deported from Azerbaijan on January 13. All six were in the country legally but have been deported, allegedly for "engaging in religious propaganda" under Article 300 of the Azerbaijan Republic Code of Administrative Violations. The ruling ordering their deportation was signed by Hasan Aliyev, Chief of the Khatai District Police Department, and was dated December 24, 2006, the day of the police raid. According to the ruling, an appeal may be filed in writing within ten days from the date of receipt of a copy of the ruling. However, Gouseinov explained: "My lawyer only received the ruling a few days before I was taken from the detention center and put on a plane to London. When he tried to file my appeal, the court refused to accept it." He added, "The authorities did not explain what they mean by "religious propaganda." At the time of my arrest I was sitting in the audience listening to a Bible talk. Three of my friends who were also deported were not even at the meeting." Those forced out of Azerbaijan against their will, three of whom are Azerbaijanis, are in good health and receiving the needed assistance and support from friends and family. Gouseinov, who was born in Baku, said: "I was not treated badly at the detention center and fellow Witnesses were allowed to bring me food and a change of clothing." Equipment, literature, and other property confiscated in the police raid has still not been returned. A pattern of disruption of peaceful religious meetings has developed in Azerbaijan, contravening the Azerbaijan Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
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