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A group of believers attempted to hold an unsanctioned protest in front of the Shah Abbas Mosque in the city Ganja, Azerbaijan, local information agency APA reports.

Police was called to the place to prevent the October 23 protest in Ganja. The police said several believers had been detained for disturbing the public order during the protest.

According to Haqqin.az, 26 radical Islamists were detained during the operation. The website was told at the Head Police Department of Ganja that the operation had been carried out by the soldiers of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The aim of the parishioners’ detention was to prevent the Tasu’a rally, which was being planned to hold in observance of the Day of Ashura, a mourning day for the Muslims. Both the clergy of the mosque and the parishioners had been warned beforehand against such a rally as it could disturb the public order. However, no one heeded the warning of the law enforcement agencies.
One of the parishioners of Shah Abbas Mosque reportedly said they had not been allowed to recite azan and hold the Friday prayer there on 23 October.

One of the witnesses of the Ganja clashes said the police used batons to disperse the believers, Azerbaijani service of RFE/RL reports, according to Minval.az.

“It was around 10 or 11 o’clock in the morning. There were many people, about 100 of them, in the mosque because today is Friday. Everyone knows that a rally is annually held in Ganja on Ashura day. Suddenly, the police officers arrived with batons. They demanded the people to disperse. When the believers protested, they began to beat them all. There were many Internal troops police officers there. Twenty-six people were detained. They didn’t even allow reciting azan,” the witness said. He informed that the mosque is surrounded by the police at the moment and that the door of the mosque is shut.
According to the report, Ganja district police refused to comment on the case.
According to the International Religious Freedom Report for 2014 by the US Department of State, Azerbaijan authorities raided gatherings of minority religious groups, including Salafis, readers of texts by Islamic theologian Said Nursi, and suspected followers of the Islamic cleric and theologian Fethullah Gulen. According to the report, the religious activists detained by the Azerbaijani government were considered by local observers to be political prisoners. Some religious organizations experienced difficulty registering with the government. The government also imposed limits on the importation, distribution, and sale of religious materials.