Sources among believers told Turan about a series of detention of Salafis (Wahhabis) morning of March 17. According to unconfirmed reports, the detainees are members of the community mosques Lezghi, Garaçukhur and Mehdiabad.
In turn, the international organization in defense of believers Forum 18 has issued a statement which says that on 10 March Shia Muslim theologian and translator Jeyhun Jafarov became the latest prisoner of conscience to be arrested and ordered held in pre-trial detention by Azerbaijan's NSM secret police, apparently to punish him for exercising his freedom of religion or belief, his friends told Forum 18 News Service. He has been ordered to be held for four months while being investigated for treason. Jafarov's arrest was two weeks after the arrest of five Sunni Muslim prisoners of conscience from Baku, including Mubariz Qarayev, imam of the Lezgin Mosque in Baku's Old City. The Lezgin Mosque is one of many Sunni Muslim mosques the government seeks to close. They five have been ordered to be held for three months by the NSM on criminal charges of selling religious literature which has not been censored by the state. Already held in the same NSM prison are two female Jehovah's Witness prisoners of conscience, Irina Zakharchenko and Valida Jabrayilova, whose appeal against being held in pre-trial detention for three months has been rejected.
"These arrests are evidence of government pressure campaign on the people that exercise their right to freedom of religion," said «Forum 18." The organization reports that family members of the detainees are afraid to say anything.
However, the head of public relations center of MNS Arif Babayev did not confirm the arrest of Mubariz Garayev and others and recommended Turan to address the Interior Ministry.
In turn, the press service of the Interior Ministry did not comment on the request for the detention of believers and promised to respond later. -16D04-
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November 8 is celebrated as Victory Day in Azerbaijan. In 2020, Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity through a 44-day war and a one-day military operation in 2023. Although a ceasefire declaration was signed between the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan has yet to be signed, even four years later.
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On Saturday, rain with heavy showers in some areas is expected in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula. There will be fog in the morning and evening, and the wind will be from the northwest. The air temperature: at night +6°C to +10°C; in the daytime +12°C to +15°C.
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A 32-year-old man, who had threatened to jump off a bridge, blocked traffic on the airport road.
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On 8 November in the capital it will be cloudy, rain is possible at night. In Apsheron, precipitation will be intense with thunderstorms. Wind is south-western, in the morning a slight fog.
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