AZERBAIJAN: Large fine amid continuing religious censorship

[Guest Indiana]

A Baku court fined Kamran Huseynzade four months' average wages for selling religious books outside a mosque without state permission. The head of the censorship department at the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations lamented that only 42 of 100 places selling religious literature have the required state licence. All published and imported religious literature is subject to prior compulsory censorship.

Amid the continuing imposition of state censorship of all religious literature published and distributed in Azerbaijan or imported into it, a court in the capital Baku has handed down another large fine for selling religious literature without state permission. A judge fined Kamran Huseynzade about four months' average wages. The 180 books seized from him were confiscated.
 

Surakhani District Court, Baku

RFE/RL

Huseynzade faced charges not related to the content of the books but solely to offering the books for sale without state permission. He chose not to appeal against his fine (see below).

The head of the department that censors religious literature and objects at the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations, Nahid Mammadov, lamented at a conference on state censorship on 23 September that only 42 of the more than 100 shops selling religious literature across the country have the required state licence. He complained that the unlicensed shops "create certain problems" (see below).

Mammadov was not in the office at the State Committee on 27 September. One of his colleagues put the phone down when Forum 18 asked why all religious literature is subject to prior compulsory state censorship (see below).

When police detain Jehovah's Witnesses on the street as they share their faith with others, officers often seize any religious literature they find. Similarly, during raids on Jehovah's Witness meetings in homes, police often check whether religious publications have the required sticker from the State Committee showing that they have undergone the state religious censorship (see below).

Muslim theologian Elshad Miri is preparing to lodge a case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in October over the 2018 State Committee ban on the publication of one of his books on Islam. Four Jehovah's Witness cases over state bans on the import of their literature are still pending with the court, as is a case lodged by Muslims who study the works of the late Turkish Muslim theologian Said Nursi (see below).

http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2509

[Arauna]

Many muslims from Azerbaijan here in Rep. Of Georgia.  A lovely Uzbeki sister is often my partner in the field.

In Islamic countries one is not allowed to preach another religion.  Yet in western countries they fight for their rights and "islamaphobia" is often cited.  This hypocricy is part of supremacy of the religion..... 

Christian's in Canada and UK who have converted  from Islam are sent back to Iran and other countries where they face the death penalty.

Western countries are turning against Christians of any kind. Nothing in the news about the dessimation of Christian's in North Africa and Muslim countries in middle east.

Soon we may find ourselves in prison with some of these Christians- and then another phase of our preaching will start.