Author: Kalashian Nyrie

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief
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Friday 
AZERBAIJAN: Appeals fail against illegal raids, fines
Baptist Pastor from Aliabad Hamid Shabanov has failed to overturn a fine
for hosting religious meetings without compulsory state permission. The
Constitutional Court again rejected his appeal. Four Jehovah's Witnesses
failed in their civil suit seeking redress for the police's illegal entry
without a court order or search warrant, their "detention, verbal insults
and humiliation", and literature seizure.
AZERBAIJAN: Appeals fail against illegal raids, fines
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
Baptist Pastor Hamid Shabanov, from the town of Aliabad in the northern
Zaqatala District, failed for the second time through the Constitutional
Court in the capital Baku to overturn a fine handed down in December 2016
for hosting religious meetings without the compulsory state permission. The
Court refused to consider his further appeal, the Court told Forum 18.
Pastor Shabanov told Forum 18 he had received the Constitutional Court
letter rejecting his further appeal and was consulting other Baptist church
leaders over what further action to take over the raid and fine which he
insists were "illegal" (see below).
Pastor Shabanov and another Baptist were each fined more than three months'
average wages for those in formal work after the 2016 police raid on a
worship meeting in the pastor's home. "I had to pay the fine," Pastor
Shabanov told Forum 18 from Aliabad on 14 June. "The authorities won't
allow our church to meet all together in one place" (see below).
The Aliabad Baptist church has been seeking registration in vain since 1994
and has faced repeated police raids and the jailing of two pastors,
including Pastor Shabanov (see below).
The Aliabad Baptist church does not have the 50 adult members required in
law since 2011 to apply for state permission to exist. This requirement
bans all small religious communities from being allowed to exist and opens
up any small communities that meet for worship to punishment.
(
 )
At least two – and possibly all three – of the Muslims fined up to four
months' average wages to punish them for holding a religious meeting in a
home in the central town of Agsu have failed in their appeals (see below).
Four Jehovah's Witnesses from the north-western town of Mingachevir have
failed in their appeal in a civil suit against an illegal 2016 police raid
on a worship meeting. The four had been seeking redress for the police's
illegal entry into the home of one of the four without a court order or
search warrant, their "detention, verbal insults and humiliation", and
seizure of personal literature. The home owner was also fined (see below).
Raids on people meeting for worship have been frequent in recent years.
However, the authorities appear to have launched fewer such raids on
worship meetings in 2019 so far, Forum 18 notes. Raids on individuals'
homes and subsequent fines have continued (see forthcoming article).
Jehovah's Witnesses have lodged ten appeals to international bodies against
the Azerbaijani government's earlier raids on meetings for worship. Four
cases have been lodged to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,
and six complaints to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Muslim
readers of the works of the late Turkish theologian Said Nursi also lodged
a case to the European Court of Human Rights about a massive police raid on
a Baku religious study meeting in  2015 and subsequent punishments (see
forthcoming F18News article).
Aliabad: The Church that cannot meet
Baptist Pastor Hamid Shabanov, from the town of Aliabad in the northern
Zaqatala [Zakatala] District, failed for the second time through the
Constitutional Court in the capital Baku to overturn a fine handed down in
December 2016 for hosting religious meetings without the compulsory state
permission.
The Aliabad Baptist Church has been seeking registration – in vain –
since 1994. Former prisoner of conscience Pastor Shabanov was held in
pre-trial detention from June to November 2008. In February 2009 he was
given a two-year suspended sentence on charges he and his fellow-Baptists
insisted were fabricated. He was arrested a month after another Aliabad
Pastor, Zaur Balaev, was freed after nearly a year in prison on false
charges. 
(
 )
The December 2016 fines on Pastor Shabanov and another church member Mehman
Agamammadov followed a November 2016 raid by police and the local State
Committee official on an "illegal" meeting for prayer in Pastor Shabanov's
home. Police detained more than 30 adults and children present, after which
16 women and 10 men were questioned at the local police station until 10 pm
at night. Police sent confiscated religious literature to the State
Committee in Baku for alleged "expert analysis". The literature was all
returned the following month.
Their Baptist church in Aliabad has been seeking registration – in vain
– since 1994 
(
 ). Police
and state officials have warned church members not to meet. "If we meet
again for worship, we'll get double the fine," Pastor Shabanov told Forum
18 in February 2018 officials had warned them.
(
 )
Pastor Shabanov says that the Church still cannot meet. "The authorities
won't allow our church to meet all together in one place," he told Forum 18
on . "They'll fine us again if we do so."
Ilqar Valiyev, the local official of the State Committee for Work with
Religious Organisations in Zaqatala, refused to discuss anything with Forum
18 on 12 June. He insisted all enquiries should be directed to the State
Committee in Baku and put the phone down.
The Aliabad Baptist church does not have enough members now to apply for
registration and thus have state permission to exist and has been
repeatedly punished and threatened since its foundation in the early 1990s.
In a 15-minute hearing on 12 December 2016, Zaqatala District Court found
both Pastor Shabanov and Agamammadov guilty and fined them each the minimum
fine, 1,500 Manats, more than three months' average wages for those in
formal work. Both Baptists were punished under Administrative Code Article
515.0.2 ("Violating legislation on holding religious meetings, marches, and
other religious ceremonies").
(
 )
Pastor Shabanov managed to get the written decision only in January 2017.
Agamammadov never received the written decision, despite repeated attempts
to get it from the court.
Aliabad: Supreme Court, Constitutional Court appeals fail
Pastor Shabanov lodged his appeal to the Constitutional Court in October
2017 after Sheki Appeal Court refused in June 2017 to extend the period for
him to lodge his appeal against the December 2016 fine.
On 19 January 2018, Judge Kamran Shafiyev of Azerbaijan's Constitutional
Court rejected Pastor Shabanov's constitutional complaint, writing to him
on 31 January 2018 to tell him it would not be considering his further
appeal against the December 2016 fine.
(
 )
Pastor Shabanov then appealed to Azerbaijan's Supreme Court. However, on 28
August 2018, Judge Aziz Seyidov rejected his appeal, according to the
decision seen by Forum 18. The Judge argued that, although the
Administrative Code allows for appeals against decisions in administrative
cases, no law has been enacted allowing for such appeals to be heard in the
Supreme Court.
Pastor Shabanov then decided to appeal again to the Constitutional Court,
where his appeal arrived on 24 April 2019.
Pastor Shabanov argued that its earlier rejection of his appeal had been
"illegal". "This indicates that the judges of the Constitutional Court do
not know the laws and are busy rejecting all complaints sent to the
Constitutional Court under various pretexts," Pastor Shabanov wrote to the
Constitutional Court. "As a result, people's constitutional rights are not
reinstated." He asked to be allowed to submit an appeal to the Court.
However, on 6 May the Constitutional Court wrote to Pastor Shabanov
refusing to consider the case again. "The administration of the Court told
him it had already considered the case," a Constitutional Court official
told Forum 18 on 14 June. "His second appeal was turned down and no hearing
was needed."
The Court official stressed that under the law on the Constitutional Court,
it can only consider appeals against Supreme Court decisions, not decisions
by appeal courts.
Pastor Shabanov confirmed he had received the Constitutional Court's May
letter and was consulting other Baptist church leaders over what further
action to take. "The raid and fine were illegal," he insisted to Forum 18.
Agsu: Two, possibly three appeals fail
Two of the three Muslims fined up to four months' average wages to punish
them for holding a religious meeting in a home in the central town of Agsu
have failed in their appeals. Confusion surrounds whether the third also
failed.
In separate hearings Sheki Appeal Court left two decisions unchanged: on 2
November 2018, Judge Rafail Aliyev rejected Rauf Majidov's appeal against
his fine of three months' average wages for those in formal work for an
"illegal" religious meeting. Similarly, on 8 November 2018 Judge Imanverdi
Shukurov rejected Vuqar Mammadov's appeal.
On 1 November 2018, Judge Mirbahaddin Huseynov heard the appeal by Qambar
Zeynalov against his fine of four months' average wages for those in formal
work for an "illegal" religious meeting. Court records state that the Judge
changed the lower court decision, ruling that it was "not in line with the
facts".
However, an assistant to Judge Huseynov told Forum 18 from Sheki Appeal
Court on 14 June that the Judge had left the lower court decision in
Zeynalov's case unchanged.
Officials of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations and
the State Security Service (SSS) secret police raided Mammadov's home in
Agsu on 17 September 2018. They claimed the three men were holding an
"illegal" religious meeting. On 21 September 2018, Agsu District Court
found all three Muslims guilty under Administrative Code Article 515.0.2
("Violating legislation on holding religious meetings, marches, and other
religious ceremonies"). The Judge fined Zeynalov the maximum 2,000 Manats.
The other two men were fined 1,700 and 1,500 Manats.
(
 )
Mingachevir: Challenge to illegal police raid fails
On 18 September 2018, Judge Elchin Huseynov of Sheki Appeal Court rejected
a civil case brought by four Jehovah's Witnesses, Eldar Aliyev, Maryam
Aliyeva, Elchin Bakirov and Bahruz Kerimov, against an illegal police raid
on a worship meeting, according to the decision seen by Forum 18.
Police had raided a Jehovah's Witness meeting in Aliyev's home in the
north-western town of Mingachevir on 9 January 2016. Mingachevir City Court
then fined Aliyev 1,500 Manats in March 2016, and Sheki Appeal Court upheld
the fine the following month.
(
 )
The four lodged a civil suit to Mingachevir City Court, seeking redress for
the police's illegal entry into Aliyev's home without a court order or
search warrant, their "detention, verbal insults and humiliation", and
seizure of personal literature. But the court rejected the suit on 25 May
2018. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Azerbaijan
(
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For more background, see Forum 18's Azerbaijan religious freedom survey
(
 )
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(
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A printer-friendly map of Azerbaijan
(
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Follow us on Twitter @Forum_18 
(
 )
Follow us on Facebook @Forum18NewsService
(
 )
All Forum 18 text may be referred to, quoted from, or republished in full,
if Forum 18 is credited as the source.
All photographs that are not Forum 18's copyright are attributed to the
copyright owner. If you reuse any photographs from Forum 18's website, you
must seek permission for any reuse from the copyright owner or abide by the
copyright terms the copyright owner has chosen.
© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.
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                                        Friday, 
Armenian Speaker Adds To Pressure On Tsarukian
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan speaks at a parliament session in Yerevan, 
March 5, 2019.
Adding to pressure on Gagik Tsarukian, parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan has 
challenged the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) to 
publicly dispel “reasonable” doubts about the legality of his entrepreneurial 
activities.
In a letter to Tsarukian, Mirzoyan said there are “legitimate concerns” about 
Tsarukian’s compliance with a constitutional provision that bars parliament 
deputies from engaging in business.
Mirzoyan publicized the letter late on Thursday just hours after 
law-enforcement authorities pledged to investigate a small pro-government 
party’s claims that Tsarukian is flouting that ban.
The party called the Citizen’s Decision also appealed to the speaker earlier 
this week. It urged him to set up an ad hoc ethics commission that would look 
into the matter and, if necessary, ask the Constitutional Court to expel 
Tsarukian from the parliament.
Mirzoyan, who is a close associate of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, indicated 
in his letter that he will not initiate such a parliamentary inquiry. Still, he 
said that Tsarukian “should at least present detailed public clarifications 
regarding the issue.”
A senior BHK lawmaker, Sergey Bagratian, essentially dismissed the demand on 
Friday. He said the onus is on the authorities to prove that Tsarukian has 
violated the constitution.
“It’s not Mr. Tsarukian who should prove that he has not been engaged in 
business,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “It’s the 
political force making such statements which must prove that Mr. Tsarukian is 
engaged in business.”
Armenia - Gagik Tsarukian and other deputies of his Prosperous Armenia Party 
arrive for a parliament session in Yerevan, April 8, 2019.
Bagratian argued that neither the Central Election Commission nor any political 
force, including Pashinian’s My Step bloc, had objected to his participation in 
the December 2018 general elections.
Tsarukian and his associates maintain that while the BHK leader owns dozens of 
businesses they are not run by him on a day-to-day basis.
My Step lawmakers began questioning these assurances last month amid mounting 
tensions between Pashinian’s bloc and Tsarukian’s party, which is Armenia’s 
largest parliamentary opposition force. They cited Tsarukian’s calls for the 
government to impose hefty tariffs on imports of cement to Armenia.
The tycoon owns the country’s largest cement plant which is increasingly 
struggling to compete with cheaper cement imported from neighboring Iran. He 
has warned that it could lay off the vast majority of its 1,100 workers.
Earlier in April, Tsarukian criticized the Pashinian government’s economic 
policies, saying that they have not attracted major investments and boosted 
living standards in the country. Some of his businesses were raided by tax 
officials afterwards. The State Revenue Committee denied any political reasons 
for the tax audits.
The inquiry into Tsarukian’s involvement in business, which was ordered by 
prosecutors, raised the possibility of the tycoon being stripped of his 
parliament seat. Vahe Enfiajian, another senior BHK figure, on Thursday did not 
deny a newspaper report which said that all 25 other BHK deputies will resign 
from the 132-member parliament if their leader loses the seat.
Armenian PM Vows To Promote ‘Christian Values’
        • Emil Danielyan
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian kisses a cross held by Catholicos 
Garegin II during an Easter Mass at Yerevan's St. Gregory the Illuminator 
Cathedral, April 21, 2019.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday reaffirmed his stated support for the 
Armenian Apostolic Church and pledged to promote “Christian values” in Armenia, 
saying that they hold the key to human happiness.
“I will dare to say that the non-violent, velvet, popular revolution that took 
place in Armenia [in 2018] was for the most part based on the Christian 
values,” Pashinian said. “As a human being, as a politician, I myself regard 
the moment when I read and reread the New Testament as a turning point in my 
life.”
“I believe that the doctrine at the heart of it is really revolutionary in all 
senses, including the state-building sense, and this is the formula which can 
bring happiness to the Republic of Armenia, its citizens and humankind in 
general,” he added.
Pashinian made the comments at the inaugural session of a working group tasked 
with ascertaining his government’s relationship with the Armenian Apostolic 
Church. It comprises government officials and senior clergymen from the ancient 
church to which the vast majority of Armenians nominally belong. The supreme 
head of the church, Catholicos Garegin (Karekin) II, also attended and 
addressed the meeting.
Pashinian said the working group should propose “joint decisions” on 
contentious issues such as continued teaching of the history of the church 
taught in Armenian public schools. His government is reportedly intent on 
restricting or modifying those classes that have long been criticized some 
civic groups. Those plans have been denounced by conservative and nationalist 
figures accusing the current authorities in Yerevan of undermining “traditional 
values.”
Pashinian also signaled on Friday his government’s desire to review legal tax 
exemptions enjoyed by the church. In particular, he seemed to call for 
exploring the possibility of taxing some of the properties belonging to the 
church.
Armenia - Worshipers light candles during a Christmas Eve service at the Surp 
Sarkis church in Yerevan, January 5, 2019.
Speaking at the meeting, Garegin said the authorities should take into account 
“enormous human and material losses” suffered by the church during the Armenian 
genocide in Ottoman Turkey and anti-religious persecutions in Soviet times. “In 
this context, state support is important so that the Church can restore 
necessary conditions and capacities for accomplishing its mission in the 
homeland and the Diaspora,” he said.
Without naming anyone, Garegin also criticized those who want to “restrict” 
that mission by citing the church’s separation from the state declared by the 
Armenian constitution. He argued that the constitution also recognizes the 
church’s “exceptional” role in the country’s history and social life.
Pashinian likewise acknowledged its “special significance” for many Armenians 
when he met with Garegin in Echmiadzin in November. It was apparently their 
first one-on-one meeting since Pashinian swept to power in May in a wave of 
mass protests. The premier had been very critical of Garegin in the past.
In June, an obscure Armenian group launched a series of protests against 
Garegin, accusing him of corruption and close ties with the country’s former 
government. Dozens of its members partly occupied his Echmiadzin headquarters 
in July.
Police waited for several days before forcing the protesters out of the Mother 
See. The perceived slow response prompted strong criticism from the former 
ruling Republican Party (HHK) and other conservative critics of Pashinian.
The HHK subsequently failed to push through the parliament two bills that would 
ban any demonstrations inside church premises and require the state to provide 
Garegin with bodyguards on a permanent basis. Pashinian’s government and 
political allies spoke out against the bills.
Yerevan Wants Eurasian Union To Extend Trade Concession
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Cars parked at a customs terminal in Yerevan.
The government will ask the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to continue to waive 
its hefty tariffs for used cars imported to Armenia in increasingly large 
numbers, Economic Development Minister Tigran Khachatrian said on Friday.
Armenia had to replace its traditionally liberal trade regime with more 
protectionist policies pursued by the EEU member states when it joined the 
Russian-led trade bloc in 2015. It was allowed to temporarily exempt around 800 
types of goods, including key foodstuffs and fuel, from higher customs duties 
set by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Import duties collected from these products are due to be raised to the EEU 
levels by 2020, meaning that they would become more expensive in Armenia. The 
tariff increase will be particularly sharp for second-hand cars imported from 
beyond the EEU.
Armenian car imports have grown rapidly in the last few years amid strong 
demand from not only local residents but also buyers from Russian and 
Kazakhstan, where such vehicles are more expensive because of the higher EEU 
tariffs.
This growth seems to be accelerating further in anticipation of the expiry in 
January 2020 of the trade preference enjoyed by Armenia. The Armenpress news 
agency quoted the chief of the Armenian customs service, Shushanik Nersisian, 
as saying that 9,481 cars were imported the country in April this year, sharply 
up from 4,324 cars in April 2018.
Khachatrian said the Armenia government hopes to secure a full or partial 
extension of the tariff waiver. “There has been no official application [to the 
EEU] yet,” he told a news conference. “But it’s a process that has to be 
launched and discussions regarding it are now in progress.”
The minister cautioned that getting the other EEU member states to agree to 
such an extension will not be easy. “If the [planned] renegotiation was only 
about Armenia’s internal market, its outcome would probably more predictable,” 
he said. “But as we know, this situation where customs duties on imported cars 
are lower here than in any other EEU member state leads people to register cars 
here and sell them there.”
“That is now visible,” Khachatrian went on. “In some cities of those states the 
number of cars with Armenian license plates is now so large that their citizens 
are wondering why these [import] taxes are collected in Armenia but not in 
their countries. Why? Because those duties are lower in Armenia. Now, as you 
can imagine, we have to argue during negotiations why this should remain the 
case.”
Minister Sees Major Improvement In Armenian Investment Climate
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Minister for Economic Development and Investments Tigran Khachatrian 
at a news conference in Yerevan, May 3, 2019.
Armenia’s business environment has improved significantly since last year’s 
“velvet revolution,” Economic Development Minister Tigran Khachatrian insisted 
on Friday.
He said the current Armenian government has broken up economic monopolies, 
created a level playing field for all businesses and eliminated “systemic 
corruption” since taking office in May 2018.
Western donors and lending institutions have for decades urged successive 
governments in Yerevan to take such measures, saying that they are essential 
for the country’s faster and sustainable economic development.
“We now talk about equal competition, equal opportunities for entering the 
market or the absence of systemic corruption so easily as if that should be 
taken for granted,” Khachatrian told reporters. “But these are the kind of 
fundamental changes that have come about … They confirm that any citizen 
willing to engage in any economic activity can do it now.”
“This should be considered the main achievement of the revolution,” he said.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has also repeatedly made such statements. He has 
said that the improved investment climate puts his government on track to carry 
out an “economic revolution” in Armenia.
Pashinian’s political opponents and other critics dismiss these statements, 
saying that the government’s economic policies have not led to greater 
investments or faster economic growth. They argue that the Armenian economy 
grew more slowly in 2018 than in 2017.
Khachatrian confirmed an 8.6 percent year-on-year fall in Armenian exports 
recorded by the Statistical Committee in the first quarter of this year. The 
minister blamed it on a downturn in Armenia’s mining industry.
The government had forecast an 8 percent rise in exports in 2019.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” reports that parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan has sent a letter to 
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukian urging him to publicly 
respond to allegations that he illegally combines his political activities with 
business. The paper notes that the letter was made public late on Thursday 
right after a meeting of the governing board of Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. It says this means that the “yellow card” to 
Tsarukian was “at least approved” by Pashinian. The authorities, it says, are 
serious about their threats to strip Tsarukian of his parliament seat.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that the current political agenda of the Armenian 
government’s opponents is “false.” In particular, the pro-government paper 
dismisses BHK assurances that Tsarukian is not personally engaged in business. 
“Equally false is the discourse about the criminal case against [former 
President] Robert Kocharian being fabricated,” it says. “Looking people in the 
eyes, they want to make them believe that firearms were use against citizens in 
the center of Yerevan for several hours [in March 2008] without the then head 
of state’s knowledge and orders.” The paper also dismisses allegations by 
senior representatives of the former ruling Republican Party that the current 
authorities’ are undermining Armenia’s national security with their foreign 
policy.
“Aravot” dismisses as “artificial” the outcry sparked in Armenia by Russian 
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s behavior at a Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) 
meeting in Yerevan which many felt was disrespectful towards Pashinian and his 
Russian language skills. “In my view, the [Armenian] prime minister’s knowledge 
of Russian, English and, according to specialists, French is quite 
satisfactory,” writes the newspaper editor, Aram Abrahamian. “It is natural to 
speak in the official language of that organization at EEU events. As for 
Medvedev, if he was untactful that is his problem. It was meaningless to 
wrangle over that [on social media.]”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org