Religious Literature to Be Marked

The State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of September 22 had a meeting with representatives of the publishing and printing houses in connection with the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on changes in the accounting, use and issuance of control marks for religious literature.

As the Chairman of the State Committee Mubariz Gurbanli said, in the publication of religious literature there are rules relating to freedom of religion and conscience.

The state takes measures to prevent the abuse of freedom of religion in Azerbaijan. In particular, there is control over religious literature in order to protect national security and public safety, which, according to Gurbanli, "is not censorship." It is intended to prevent radical activity to foment hostility between religious movements and to combat with groups hiding their subversive activities against the constitutional order of Azerbaijan, he said.

The Acting Director of the Legal and Registration Department of the State Committee Bakhruz Muslimov informed the publishers and printers of the legal side of the application of control marks for religious literature. In case of violations, the violators will be fined, he said.

This message means that all religious literature should be marked. However, it is unclear how it will be carried out. -05D06-