ALIABAD, Azerbaijan — Police in Azerbaijan raided a meeting for Baptist worship in the home of former prisoner of conscience Zaur Balaev on Nov. 7, Forum 18 News Service reported.
The raid in Aliabad took place as Balaev and his wife, Nunuka, were in Moscow, where she is undergoing cancer treatment. Police detained and questioned one Baptist. They also seized religious literature including New Testaments.
In a simultaneous raid on another home in the village, police seized more religious literature and questioned another former prisoner of conscience, Hamid Shabanov.
Local police refused to discuss with Forum 18 why they had raided the two homes and seized literature.
State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations spokesperson Orhan Ali claimed that if nothing illegal is found in the books, they will be returned. “This is not censorship,” he insisted to Forum 18.
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