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Five Azerbaijani Muslims are facing the threat of imprisonment for five years if convicted, after police raided a home where they were praying, the Turkish site “Islamic Invitation Turkey” reports.

“These are normal Muslims who are not involved in politics and simply conduct prayers,” Asabali Mustafayev the lawyer told Forum 18 News Service, the article reads.

According to the article, the five men have been detained since April 2014 when masked policemen stormed a home owned by one of them in Baku, interrupting their prayer. Three of the five defendants, Eldeniz Hajiyev, Ismayil Mammadov and Revan Sabzaliyev, have fielded complaints to the European Court of Human Rights.

Zohrab Shikhaliyev, the house owner faces up to three years’ imprisonment on charges of installing a prayer room in his home and seizing weapons, a claim that his friends deny, the article reads.

“The men conducted no criminal activity, everyone agrees,” lawyer Mustafayev insists.

As the article has it, Muslims, mostly Shiite, make up more than 93 percent of the population of Azerbaijan. The government of President Ilham Aliyev has been facing accusations of tightening controls on the Muslim religion in the country. In February, 2010 the government ordered all state employees to remove Islam-related symbols from their offices. The state also requires all religious communities to register with the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations. The government also mandates that all religious groups align their teachings with the spiritual authority of the Caucasus Board of Muslims.