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Three Sunni Muslims were jailed in Azerbaijan for selling books and other religious items which have not undergone state censorship, fellow Muslims told Forum 18, an organization promoting religious freedom.

According to the information, Azad Qafarov was given a 15-month prison term, Habibulla Omarov a one-year prison term and Salim Qasimov, father of 8 young children, a six-month prison term. They had been arrested in Azerbaijan's capital Baku in February 2015 along with two other Muslims, Mubariz Qarayev and Eyvaz Mammadov, whose criminal trials are still on. All five prisoners of conscience have been accused of selling books and other religious items illegally. They ran several shops in Baku's Narimanov and Yasamal Districts. All are also associated with the Sunni Lezgin Mosque in Baku's Old City which the government intends to forcibly close. The prosecutor is demanding the maximum two-year prison sentence for the Mosque’s Imam, Mubariz Qarayev.

Forum 18 counts eight prisoners of conscience being held in the National Security Ministry (NSM) secret police Investigation Prison in Baku because of their faith. Apart from the five Sunni Muslims, there are two female Jehovah's Witnesses and a Shia theologian, translator Jeyhun Jafarov. He was arrested on 10 March 2015 for exercising his right to freedom of religion or belief by being a translator of Islamic works and public broadcasts. The NSM secret police is investigating him on charge of treason under Criminal Code Article 274. If convicted, he faces imprisonment of between 12 years and life, according to Forum 18.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Irina Zakharchenko, 55, and Jabrayilova, 38, were arrested on 17 February 2015 for talking to residents about their faith. The Judge held that their activity represented a "threat to the public." They face up to five years imprisonment for "Production, sale and distribution of religious literature, religious items and other informational materials of religious nature with the aim of import, sale and distribution without appropriate authorisation" when conducted by an "organised group".

Forum 18 reports that as part of the investigation of the criminal case, the NSM secret police has summoned and interrogated at least 20 other Jehovah's Witnesses and searched at least 10 homes and the place of their worship. Jehovah's Witnesses have expressed particular concern about Zakharchenko whom the doctors classify as 80 per cent disabled. She is a widow, and Jabrayilova is the prime care-giver for her mother. As with all the other NSM secret police prisoners of conscience, relatives are denied any meetings with Zakharchenko and Jabrayilova, and parcels are allowed only once a month. The Police have also refused to hand in a Bible. Jehovah's Witnesses have raised the cases of the two women with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other international bodies.

Forum 18 also reports about a separate case in Gadabay Region of western Azerbaijan, when the leader of a group of Sunni Muslims was given a very large fine in early June 2015 and about 12 others were fined for alleged hooliganism after a police raid on a meeting to study the works of Islamic theologian Said Nursi.

Azerbaijani border authorities denied entry to Georgian Orthodox priest Fr Demetre Tetruashvili, who has served two Georgian Orthodox parishes in Azerbaijan's north-western Gakh Region for the past four years. With no priest now, the local Georgian Orthodox community has been deprived of the opportunity to hold the liturgy or receive other sacraments, Forum 18 stresses.

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In Azerbaijan, Jehovah's Witnesses can face up to five years in prison for distributing religious literature
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