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16 detained for illegal religious activity in Azerbaijan within April

18 April 2007 13:14 (UTC +04:00)

There is not such sect at allâ€, â€œAbu Bakirâ€ Mosqueâ€™s imam Gamat Suleyman told the APA. Suleyman called â€œilliterateâ€ those who call them wahhabists. He said that the Mosque where he was imam carried out plans against radicalism before and said that radicalism.
â€œThere are radical people in political parties. If there 15-20 people come out of the faith we can not accuse them of this,â€ he said.
Suleyman said the Muslims may happen to be forced to radicalism in Azerbaijan and in other countries. But Suleyman said he highly appraised religious tolerance in Azerbaijan and he is freely acting now, and he does not face any pressure.
â€œThough we do not face any pressure in Baku, our several brothers in regions face restrictions by police officersâ€, he said.
The Imam of Abu Bakir Mosque was against the construction of church for Catholics in Baku. He raised issue on his having a lot of supporters and necessity of building Mosque for themselves.
â€œWe compromise in several issues, to me, it can give no good resultsâ€, he added.
Head of State Committee for Religious Communities Hidayat Orujov told the APA that anybody is detained for committing a crime, not for being wahhabist.
â€œNo one in Azerbaijan is detained for his religious faith and trust nowadays. Criminal has no religion and nation. If someone is detained, it is only for that he committed a crimeâ€, he said.
Former chief of State Committee for Religious Communities Rafig Aliyev told the APA, several religious groups were controlled by law-enforcement bodies when he was the chief of Committee.
Aliyev stated that their imprisonment is violation of freedom of religion.
â€œThe matter is illegal brought of religious literature to the country, their propaganda and other issues as this. Law-enforcement bodies reveal some momentums while detaining these groups, we are not aware of itâ€, he said.
Caucasian Muslims Office did not want to comment on the issue.
Interior Ministry told the APA, 16 detained for wahhabism and illegal religious activity in Azerbaijan within April. /APA/