Censorship in Azerbaijan is crippling for the church

Azerbaijan (MNN) ― For years, many have been intrigued by novels such as Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell's 1984. More recently, Americans have eaten up movies like The Book of Eli and Equilibrium.

These are stories of total government control and oppression. In these stories, written works aren't allowed. While fictional in these stories, this is actually happening.

Open Doors USA reports that Azerbaijan is facing this very scenario. Censorship has become increasingly restrictive in recent years, and stricter laws and codes have been enforced to progress this control. While the country still has access to books and other media, it is extremely regulated.

The State Committee is need for the possession, importation, or reproduction of any work. Every title must be inspected. This State Committee also sets the limit to how many of any approved title is allowed. Any book sent to Azerbaijan has to be inspected before it can be released. At airports, too, inspection of books has become regular routine.

Anyone found with illegal material is subject to punishment including the confiscation of the text, raids, detentions, and fines.

This is a big problem for Christians. Even the Bible is condemned to these limitations. Most religious material must be approved. This includes other media, too. This ban and limitation on religious texts, including the Bible and the Koran, has been set in place since 2008.

Even internally it is difficult to produce copies of the Bible. Because printing and photocopy shops must get permission before they print anything, they usually will refuse to copy the Bible. This is because the State Committee usually refuses consent.

Religion overall is already looked down upon by the government. All things religious are controlled by the Committee on Religious Affairs. The government and the people of Azerbaijan are especially harsh toward Christians. This is largely because Christianity is associated with Armenia, Azerbaijan's biggest enemy.

This country needs prayer. We can rejoice that the church is still growing amidst oppression. But as more and more citizens become Christians, the need for Bibles increases. Pray that the church continues to receive converts, and that Christians in this country will grow in their faith in light of the oppression of the government. Pray that the Word will not be stopped despite the government's regulation.

Pastors fined in Azerbaijan

Pastor Zaur Balaev (file photo)

Azerbaijan (MNN) ― A court in Azerbaijan has fined a pastor and church worker, another blow to religious freedom in the country. Azerbaijan has restricted religious freedom over the last decade, refusing registration for evangelical churches and restricting churches from holding services.

Pastor Zaur Balaev was arrested and charged on trumped up changes in 2007. This appears to be another attempt to persecute him. This time Balaev and church worker, Hinayat Shabanova, were fined more than $1,900.

Spokesman for Slavic Gospel Association Joel Griffith says the fines are just another trial for Balaev. "His wife, Nunuka, developed pancreatic cancer, so he's been in the middle of trying to make sure she gets treated for her serious illness. Then, to have to face these legal difficulties is just doubly tragic."

Pastor Balaev's church has been seeking registration since 1994. Forum 18 reports that's the longest known period for any religious community in Azerbaijan. "Now, in light of them continuing to meet, obviously, and worship as a church--even though they've not been able to get legal registration, authorities have moved in now and decided to levy these very severe fines," says Griffith.

Griffith says Christians in the West need to be wise in their response to this. "We don't want to do anything that would cause any harm to come to any of our missionary pastors or any of the churches there. We've seen sometimes where western pressure has the opposite result, and they end up cracking down even harder."

Christians are being asked to pray on behalf of pastors in Central Asia. "We think of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan--so many of these Muslim-dominated regions where believers are having a very tough time. They need our intercessory prayer," Griffith says.

He continues, "Pray that the Lord would raise up resources to help in this situation. Certainly it's not just going to be Pastors Balaev and Shabanov; there are others that may need help."

The Azeri Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists is appealing the fines to a higher court. In the meantime, Griffith says, "Our sponsor church planters are going to be doing all we can to come alongside and support [them]."

Despite the fines and persecution, the churches are growing in these nations.

Censorship tightened on religious materials

(Photo courtesy of Sefer Ibrahim)

Azerbaijan (MNN) ― The reins are tightening on what is and isn’t allowed to be sold in Azerbaijan—including religious materials.

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Christians in Azerbaijan face more restrictions with the amendment passed by parliament last month censoring all religious materials.

According to The Voice of the Martyrs, USA's source Forum 18 News Service, all religious materials in Azerbaijan must have a state-issued verification mark in the form of a sticker before they can be sold.

Religious materials subject to censorship include electronic and hard copy literature, audio, and video.

The amendment created a new Article in the Code of Administrative offenses. It says anyone found selling religious products without state verification can face fines and the materials confiscated.

Several religious committee members told Forum 18 that they rarely bring religious literature into Azerbaijan through customs for fear of having them confiscated.

A Tax Ministry spokesperson stated that the amendment was created to make sure all commercial religious literature is getting taxed. Censorship is not required for religious materials and books produced non-commercially.

This amendment adds to the compulsory censorship that religious materials are already subject to by the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations. Shops selling religious literature have been subject to compulsory licenses since 2009.

The State Committee has the ability to restrict the number of copies which are printed or imported, check shop contents selling religious literature, and keep a list of banned religious materials.

The Expertise Department responsible for that list refuses to make it public.

A member of the Baku-based religious community told Forum 18, “This is just the latest measure to restrict religious activity.”

Pray for Azerbaijani Christians to persevere in their faith and in distributing God’s Word despite added difficulties.

Church liquidated in Azerbaijan

Mission Network News: Azerbaijan (MNN) ― Religious freedom in Azerbaijan took another hit as an established evangelical church was liquidated. According to Forum 18 news, a court in Baku has ruled to liquidate the Greater Grace Protestant Church.

Russian Ministries provides pastoral training and runs School without Walls training in that Central Asia nation. Project Manager for Russian Ministries, Wade Kusack, is concerned. "This is the first attempt of the government of Azerbaijan to openly attack and liquidate a Christian church. This is very scary situation."'

Read more...

Azerbaijan scrutiny through EuroVision fails to raise red flags

(Image courtesy of Eurovision)

Azerbaijan (MNN) ― The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union.

It is one of the longest-running, most-watched television programs in the world.  

This year, Azerbaijan hosts the competition, and Forum 18 News Service notes that freedom of religion or belief and related human rights such as the freedom of expression and of assembly remain highly restricted. 

Joel Griffith with the Slavic Gospel Association explains, "This Eurovision Song Contest doesn't necessarily have religious freedom tied to it, but it is a major European event. And Azerbaijan is also a signatory to many conventions when it comes to human rights." 

The question is WHY these violated rights are being allowed to pass unchallenged with Eurovision's global scrutiny. 

"There just seems to be a real concern--not only with religious freedom groups but with human rights groups and Western governments, in general--that you would have signatories to these conventions that are supposed to guarantee human rights. And then you have a country that's known, in recent years, for cracking down on some of these freedoms."

Azerbaijan is part of the Caucuses with a Muslim-dominated population. It also ranks 25th on this year's Open Doors World Watch List, a compilation of countries known for the persecution of Christians.   

The country's record on this issue is not widely known. However, Griffith says, "Since 2003, we've had local and international human rights organizations document cases of fraud, corruption, human rights abuses, and rule of law. 

We've just seen a steady increase in reports of religious freedom being violated."

One case in point: as of January 2010, all religious groups were required to renew their registration. Since then, no new churches have been able to register. Congregations without registration are often raided, with church leaders arrested or fined.

Griffith says they saw what was coming and came alongside the church with a Bible institute to help with the training of church leaders prior to the changes. Although they're still working, "What we have to do--not just in Azerbaijan but in any of the former Soviet countries where you have a larger Muslim domination, especially in Central Asia--is try to help churches as discreetly as possible."

The atmosphere seems to more hostile than ever. Azeri believers are considered traitors as Christianity is associated with the country's rival, Armenia. Many Christians are unable to find or keep jobs and are monitored by the secret police. 

"The main thing we're able to do right now is try to help as discreetly as we can, and try to raise awareness of the situation. Obviously, intercessory prayer holds a major role in this. Pray for our brothers and sisters there that they would not only be able to obtain freedom to worship but also to proclaim the Gospel."

Kazakhstan and other former Soviet nations earn a spot on the World Watch List

Photo by Irene

Kazakhstan (MNN) ―Kazakhstan has experienced a lot of religious firsts over the last year, including the introduction of two new restrictive religion laws. The start of 2012 has thrust them into another one: a spot on theOpen Doors World Watch List.

The World Watch List is a detailed analysis of Christian persecution worldwide, ranking the top 50 nations with the worst persecution worldwide. The 2012 list came out this week, revealing Kazakhstan at slot 45.

It's Kazakhstan's first time on the list. Still, Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association says he wasn't surprised to see Kazakhstan ranked.

"When you consider the ‘Stan' countries that are largely Muslim in makeup, Kazakhstan--since the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991--had really been a country where there was quite a bit of religious freedom," says Griffith. "Here in the past couple of years, we've seen that steadily start to decrease, sadly, with Kazakhstan joining the other central Asian Islamic Republics and cracking down on their religious groups."

Kazakhstan does seem to be following suit with surrounding countries. Other former Soviet nations have been on the list for years. Tajikistan came in at 34 this year, Azerbaijan at 25 and Turkmenistan at 18, to name a few. Uzbekistan moved up from 9th last year to a ranking of 7th for 2012--a placement two spots worse than Iraq.

"It's hard to imagine that the Soviet Union and atheistic communism came to an end 20 years ago," says Griffith. "It's almost like we're waking up and entering that world all over again. Even though it doesn't go under the name ‘Soviet Union,' we're seeing some of the same restrictive practices rear their heads again."

Much of the reasoning behind crackdowns in these nations is the avoidance of radical Islam. Unfortunately, Christians suffer so much as a result that ministry may need to resort to old ways, says Griffith.

"I think basically we have to do what we did during the Soviet days--as long as we're able to assist [churches] with resources, to do that as directly as we can. And then we have to start planning for times when maybe access is going to be very restricted and we need to be a little bit more creative about how we do it."

Ministry will not need to revert completely back to Soviet days; Griffith points out that the addition of internet and smart phone capabilities to ministry now certainly allow for more opportunities. Still, the safety of the church is a priority.

Prayer is needed for these former Soviet nations. The Gospel is still spreading despite restrictions, but pray for safety and boldness as these Christians enter a new year of hardship. Pray, more immediately, that SGA children's Christmas programs would not be disrupted tomorrow, Russian Christmas. 

Azerbaijan to tighten restrictions on religious literature

Azerbaijan (MNN) ― By mid-November, Azerbaijan's parliament will have adopted stricter amendments for those who produce or distribute religious literature.

Heftier fines and long prison sentences will now be the punishment for those who do not submit their religious literature to compulsory state censorship before producing or distributing it, according toVoice of the Martyrs, Canada.

Prison sentences will be as long as five years, and fines will be as high as nine years' official minimum wages, reports Forum 18 News.

The new restrictions come just months after an amendment made to Azerbaijan's Religion Law. In June, the nation invoked a requirement for all religious communities that 50 adults must state that they are founders in order for the group to apply for registration.

Over the course of less than 20 years, Azerbaijan has created a Religion Law and added 13 amendments to it, reports Forum 18. The law tightens its grip around religious necks each time an amendment is added, keeping Azerbaijan in the top 25 Most Persecuted countries in the world.

Parliament is set to discuss the new restrictions around November 15. They are expected to adopt the amendments in one reading.

Pray that these restrictions would not hinder the spread of Christian materials, and more importantly the spread of the Gospel, in any way. Pray that the church would continue to grow in Azerbaijan despite increased persecution and pressure.

VOM, Canada has created a report regarding Azerbaijan's relation to Christians. View it here.