Azerbaijani court liquidates Protestant church

BAKU, Azerbaijan — A court in the Azerbaijani capital Baku has ruled to liquidate the Greater Grace Protestant Church, the judge’s assistant said.

At a 15-minute final hearing April 25 in the church’s absence, Judge Tahira Asadova upheld the suit lodged by the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations. When asked how the judge could have taken a decision which means that any activity the church engages in would be illegal and subject to punishment, Asadova’s secretary Sevinj Ahmedova said, “The court has decided.” 

She said the decision will enter into force a month after the written verdict is issued, unless the church lodges an appeal. Church members said they intend to challenge the decision through every court, even to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Ilya Zenchenko, head of Azerbaijan’s Baptist Union, said he is troubled by the decision. “I protest against it — it is not just,” he said.