AZERBAIJAN: Is confiscating religious literature censorship?
ICC Note:
While claiming, “censorship has been abolished” in Azerbaijan, authorities confiscated 120 items of religious material, as well as a vehicle from three Baptists.  The event occurred after it was discovered that the three had shared their belief in a nearby village. Finally, five months later the vehicle has been returned. However, the case is still open against the three and their religious material has not been returned.
10/25/2012 Azerbaijan (Forum 18)-After five months, a car confiscated from other Baptists after religious literature was found in it has been returned, but a criminal case against the three for “illegal” religious literature distribution continues. Claiming that censorship has been abolished in Azerbaijan, Prosecutor Zahid Valiyev denied to Forum 18 that confiscating religious literature represents censorship.
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A car confiscated from a Baptist in Kusar [Qusar] District of northern Azerbaijan was finally returned in mid-October after five months. Although the Zhiguli car was returned to Telman Yarmetov, religious literature confiscated from him and two other local Baptists at the same time has not been returned. Another of the three Baptists, Ilgar Mamedov, told Forum 18 on 23 October that the books remain with the Prosecutor’s Office.
The three Baptists – Mamedov and Yarmetov, as well as Akif Babaev – were detained by police on 17 May for sharing their beliefs in the village of Mujuk. They were taken to the police station in Kusar. The police chief ordered that all their literature (120 items of 13 different publications) should be confiscated, as well as Yarmetov’s car.
The three were threatened with prosecution under Criminal Code Article 167-2, Part 1 (“Production, sale and distribution of religious literature, religious items and other informational materials of religious nature with the aim of import, sale and distribution without appropriate authorisation”)
Mamedov added that Kusar Prosecutor’s Office had told them in late September that the case against the three would be closed under amnesty.
Asked about the case against the three on 23 October, Kusar District Prosecutor Zahid Valiyev laughed, describing it as a “long story”. He said the investigation against them was continuing, but refused to specify how long this would last, which Article of the Criminal or Administrative Code they are being investigated under, and whether Mamedov, Babaev and Yarmetov will be brought to trial.
Valiyev refused to explain why Yarmetov’s car had been held for five months and denied that religious literature had been confiscated. “It was merely temporary removal, as they were distributing the literature illegally,” he told Forum 18.
Asked about whether the seizure of the religious literature from the three Baptists represented state censorship, Prosecutor Valiyev responded: “The president abolished censorship. There is freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of conscience here.” Asked how he could therefore explain the confiscation of their religious literature and the criminal case against them for distributing such literature, Valiyev replied: “You are mixing up two different things.” He refused to explain and put the phone down.
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