ALIABAD, Azerbaijan — Hamid Shabanov, a Baptist pastor in the South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan, was found guilty of possessing an illegal weapon and was given “a two-year corrective labor sentence.”
Shabanov, who is pastor of a house church of approximately 60 members in the town of Aliabad, was arrested June 20, 2008, after police claimed to have found an illegal weapon in his home after a raid.
Denying the allegations against Shabanov and claiming that the weapon was planted by the police, Elnur Jabiyev, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Azerbaijan (BUA), stated that the arrest “was a provocation by the police” and that it was “a deliberately targeted action.” The BUA leader asserted that “the police’s aim is to halt Baptist activity and close the church in Aliabad.”
“I will continue to fight against this sentence and to clear my name,” Shabanov said after his conviction Feb. 11. The two-year corrective labor sentence is equivalent to eight months in prison, thus Shabanov, who has already spent more than seven months in detention or under house arrest, will not be locked up. He was ordered to pay a fine to cover the rest of the sentence, 27 days.
Share with others: