The Azerbaijani Supreme Court revoked the legal status of a Muslim organization, accusing it of spreading “religious propaganda,” the court’s presiding judge said Thursday. (23 July 2004)
Court decision
In the latest of a series of measures cracking down on Muslim worshippers in this Caucasus nation, the court ruled Wednesday that the Islam Ittihad group had violated the law by, among other things, trying to celebrate the birthdays of Islamic prophets, Judge Asad Mirzaliyev said. The decision upheld a lower court’s finding that Islam Ittihad was “involved in religious propaganda, violating the law,” Mirzaliyev said.
Islam Ittihad has ties to Ilgar Ibragimoglu, a dissident imam who has clashed with authorities in the past for holding prayer services at the historic Juma mosque in Baku, over which the state claims control. Ibragimoglu said his organization would ask the European Court of Human Rights to examine the court decision, “since it has become impossible to restore justice in the court system here.”
Statement
In a statement, Islam Ittihad said that the organization had come under increasing pressure since last July when Ibragimoglu and other leaders harshly criticized Azerbaijani authorities at an Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe conference on freedom of religion. Ibragimoglu told The Associated Press that Azerbaijani officials were denying passports and other official documents to observant women who refused to be photographed without traditional Muslim head scarves.
Juma mosque record
The status of the 15th-century Juma mosque has been under dispute since 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Ibragimoglu and his congregation began using it. Under the officially atheist Soviet regime, the mosque had been used as a carpet museum.Earlier this month, police broke up prayers outside the mosque, scattering two dozen followers of the dissident imam, detaining four of them and beating two worshippers.Last month, police raided the mosque and evicted worshippers after courts ordered the building to be turned back to the state.
