The arrest of Baptist pastor Hamid Shabanov in the remote village of Aliabad in north-western Zakatala region Friday, June 20, comes three months after his Baptist colleague Zaur Balaev, who is from the same area, was freed from prison. He was also detained on what his family and congregation termed "trumped-up" charges at the time.
"We’re in shock," said the head of Azerbaijan’s Baptist Union, Ilya Zenchenko, in remarks distributed by the news service of rights group Forum 18. "This was a provocation by the police, a deliberately targeted action." The pastor’s brother was quoted as saying that police aims to halt the activities of Baptist Christians. "Their target is the church."
Shabanov’s family insist he has no weapon and that police planted the gun they claim to have found. However local police denied the charges. "He’s a criminal," the Zakatala regional police was quoted as saying by Forum 18 News Service. Forum 18 said it was suprised as "even under Azerbaijani law individuals are innocent until found guilty in court."
Western countries have in the past expressed concern about reported religious and political persecution in the country where Christians are estimated to comprise less than seven percent of the country’s nearly eight million population.
