AZERBAIJANI POLICE IMPRISON BAPTIST PASTOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000603

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJANI POLICE IMPRISON BAPTIST PASTOR

REF: 07 BAKU 00794

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Joan Polaschik for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (C) Baku-based Baptist representative Ilya Zenchenko told
the Embassy that Baptist pastor Hamid Shabanov has been
detained by police in the northwestern village of Aliabad.
Police arrested Shabanov on June 20 after searching his
residence and finding a handgun. Shabanov, Shabanov's family
members, and Zenchenko claim the police planted the weapon
during the house search and that Shabanov is being persecuted
because of his religious beliefs. (Shabanov co-pastors an
unregistered Baptist church along with Zaur Balaev. Balaev
was arrested in May 2007 for reportedly using violence
against police and imprisoned for months, until he was
included in a March 2008 presidential pardon - reftel. Local
activists widely regarded Balaev's arrest and imprisonment as
an instance of religious persecution.)


2. (C) Zenchenko told us that approximately ten Azerbaijani
officials came to Shabanov's home on June 20, telling
Shabanov's wife that they wanted to speak with Shabanov, who
was not home. After forty minutes, Shabanov arrived home and
then the authorities presented a search warrant and began
searching the residence. After moving through several rooms,
one of the officials claimed to have found a small pistol in
the bathroom. The officials also took several pieces of
religious literature from Shabanov's bookshelves. The
officials took Shabanov to the local police station and the
local Prosecutor General's Office decided that Shabanov could
be held for two months while authorities conduct their
investigation.


3. (C) Zenchenko said a qualified lawyer is working for
Shabanov. The lawyer has already noted several procedural
violations, including the failure of the authorities to
secure independent witnesses during the search of the
residence. Shabanov's lawyer also lobbied the local
Prosecutor General's Office to include the testimony of
Shabanov's wife and daughter-in-law, who were present at the
time of the residential search, into the official criminal
case.


4. (C) Zenchenko told us that Shabanov's detention reflects
a steady escalation of police pressure against the Baptist
community in Aliabad, particularly after Balaev's arrest and
imprisonment in 2007. According to Zenchenko, local
officials previously pressured Baptists by pushing them out
of local jobs or denying identity documents to Baptists'
children who had Christian names, but now the authorities
have detained two key pastors since May 2007.


5. (C) Comment: The Shabanov detention is another
disturbing episode in a growing pattern of harassment of
perceived "non-traditional" religious communities. While
much of the harassment can be chalked up to local officials'
heavy-handedness, the GOAJ is doing little to address the
problem. The GOAJ's silence is undercutting Azerbaijan's
tradition of religious tolerance. This latest episode is
particularly egregious since two pastors from the same
religious community from the same village have been arrested.
The Embassy will continue to monitor the case and lobby the
GOAJ to ensure a fair trial for Shabanov, but this appears to
be a case of Azerbaijani authorities using a Soviet-era
tactic of planting guns or narcotics on an unsuspecting
victim.
DERSE