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Azeri Police Raid Mosque, Expel Worshippers
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A library photo of the mosque
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Additional
Reporting By Sa’ad Abdul Majid, IOL Correspondent
ISTANBUL,
July 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Azeri police forces
broke into a mosque in the capital Baku and booted out worshippers on
Wednesday, June 30, raising fears the government is trampling on
religious freedoms.
The
soldiers sealed off the Juma mosque at the dawn prayers, ejecting
worshippers and taking all contents out, reported Thursday, July 1,
the Azeri satellite channel Leader TV, monitored by IslamOnline.net in
Istanbul.
The
channel said police were acting in accordance with a Supreme
Administrative Court order to close down the mosque and allow the
Interior Ministry to take control of its administration.
Some
of the worshippers said they were kicked and punched as police entered
during the prayers, the BBC correspondent in Baku said.
Other
press reports said police also confiscated cameras of photographers
trying to snap a shot of the raid.
The
government argued the building is an archaeological site that should
be closed pending a restoration process.
Persecution
But
Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, the mosque's chief imam, said the raid was
"politically-motivated".
"Azerbaijan
has signed up to European conventions on human rights and freedom of
worship and these are being violated," he was quoted as saying by
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"This
is a return to Stalinism… it is a step back to the sort of thing
that Azerbaijan had left in the past," Ibrahimoglu charged.
He
appealed with the Justice Ministry to keep the mosque open in return
for his pledge to have the needed restoration works done.
Ibrahimoglu
said the 6,000 dollars confiscated during the raid were donations to
be used for financing the restoration works in 2004. He noted the
mosque officials notified the Justice Ministry of the funds.
The
donations are also used for helping the orphans appealing to the
mosque for help.
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"This is a return to Stalinism,… it is a step back to the sort of thing that Azerbaijan had left in the past," said Ibrahimoglu
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The
imam insisted the authorities are using legal technicalities to mask a
campaign of political persecution.
As
well as being an imam, Ibrahimoglu is a high-profile human rights
activist who has been fiercely critical of the government policy and
has allied himself with the opposition.
The
court order of the closing down the 1,000-year-old mosque followed the
trial of Ibrahimoglu, who was jailed for taking part in protests after
a disputed presidential election last year that saw a landslide
victory for the previous leader's son.
Police
later allowed worshippers back in but announced that they had
appointed a state-sanctioned imam in place of Ibrahimoglu to take over
the mosque, over the objections of the Muslim believers.
Concerns
The
latest controversy surrounding the mosque is likely to attract
attention from Western governments and human rights bodies, which are
already concerned about Azerbaijan's chequered human rights record.
The
attempted takeover was the culmination of a long-running dispute
between the mosque and the government, which many observers see as a
test case for the country's commitment to human rights.
The
ambassadors of the US and Norway in Baku visited the area after the
raid and were updated on the latest developments, said the Voice of
America in Turkish.
The
broadcaster expected the American ambassador would convey
Washington’s concerns over the takeover of the mosque to the Azeri
government within coming few hours.
The
diplomat will urge Azeri officials to seek a peaceful solution rather
than trampling on religious freedom and using force, it added.
The
Juma mosque has suffered three years of security raids, as the
government charged it had received funds from Arab countries and Iraq.
While Press reports said that mosque was attracting extremists.
According
to some observers, Azerbaijan's hardline government, which has already
cracked down on opposition parties, fears mosques outside its control
could turn into breeding grounds for political dissent.
They
keep close tabs on religious groups in Azerbaijan, a secular state
where Muslims make up nearly 93.4 % of the eight million population.
The
country won independence in 1991, and joined the Organization of
Islamic Conference at the end of 1990s.
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