Everyone must respect beliefs

Baku/20.06.22/Turan: The imprisoned chairman of the “Muslim Unity” Movement, theologian Taleh Bagirzade, has been on a hunger strike since June 3. He stated that the believers were being tortured in the police stations and that they had gone on a hunger strike to protest insulting Allah, and demanded that those who committed such acts be punished. On May 20, when the Baku  Serious Crimes Court sentenced another “Muslim Unity” activist, Razi Abbasov, five members of the Movement were detained in front of the court building. Three of them were sentenced to one month of administrative detention on charges of resisting the police, the other two were released later that night. According to them, during the day they were tortured by taking off their trousers and threatened with rape.

Three religious activists - Yasin Ahmedov, Vugar Aliyev and Nijat Aliyev - were detained on 18 June. Relatives of these religious activists claim that they were detained in Sumgayit because of graffiti on the wall with the following content - "Punishment for blasphemers."

Rufat Safarov, a human rights activist and co-founder of the human rights “Line of Defense” organization, and Abulfaz Bunyadov, a member of the “Muslim Unity” Movement, talk about the ongoing events in the “Difficult Question” program.

According to Rufat Safarov, the rights of believers have been violated for a long time. Since 1993, they have been subjected to harassment and violence. However, unfortunately, human rights organizations are not very willing to protect the rights of believers.

"Protection of the rights of citizens, regardless of their social, racial, national, linguistic or religious affiliation, is the direct duty of human rights defenders," he said, stressing that in accordance with the Constitution of Azerbaijan and international documents to which he acceded, in particular, in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights “everyone has to profess his religion, both individually and in community with others, in public or private order, in worship, teaching, performing religious and religious rites. At the same time, the freedom to profess one's religion is subject only to those restrictions that are provided for by law,” he recalled.

Referring to what is happening around Taleh Bagirzade and other members of the “Muslim Unity” Movement, who have been holding a hunger strike for several days now, Safarov said that "they are right in their demands."

Commenting on the statements of some members of this movement, who say that during the detention they were subjected to ill-treatment by law enforcement agencies, besides, their religious values were insulted, the human rights activist said that everyone is obliged to respect the beliefs of others, if only they are within the framework of the law and are not extremist.

At the same time, the human rights activist stressed that over the years, lawsuits against representatives of the "Muslim Unity" have been political in nature.

A member of the “Muslim Unity”  Movement, Abulfaz Bunyadov, also noted that the persecution of believers is not new for Azerbaijan.

Commenting on the recent confession of Elgiz Mammadov (one of those detained on May 20 in front of the Baku Serious Crimes Court) that he was raped by a policeman, Bunyadov said that what the police did with this young man was not an isolated case.

“As a man subjected to persecution, I went through, and I know firsthand what is going on in the police. People, by virtue of national traditions, natural bashfulness, do not dare to declare this. But the fact that this topic is hushed up does not mean at all that this does not happen,” the activist said.

“Surely such shamelessness cannot happen spontaneously. For this practice to take root, conditions must mature and time is needed,” he stressed. –0—