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Once a Christian region, Azerbaijan is now 96% Muslim. Christians face pressures from government and local authorities. While laws expressly prohibit the government from interfering in religious activities, strict controls are placed on religious communities. Churches often find that they simply cannot register without the “patronage” of a senior figure in authority, and without registration they are prevented from buying or building places of worship. They also are more likely to face raids, threats and harassment from the authorities.
Congregations with a mainly ethnic Azeri membership face the most hostility. In 2007 police raided an Azeri church in Sumgait, detaining 30 of its members. The police called the local imam, who held up a copy of the Qur’an while police tried to force the Christians to pass underneath it and renounce their new faith.
Religious literature is heavily censored, and all incoming parcels containing books go to the International Post Office in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. The recipient has to collect one copy of each title posted to them, take it to the State Committee to get permission and, once this has been granted, collect the letter from the Committee and take it back to the International Post Office to receive the books. All this has to be done in person, no matter where in the country the recipient lives. Some Christians have had to ask friends abroad not to send them any literature.
