A few days ago, Baptist Pastor Zaur Balaev was sentenced to two years in jail. The pastor from Aliabad in northern Azerbaijan was convicted of using violence against a state representative, and was also accused of holding "illegal meetings under the guise of religious activity without concrete authority and without state registration," attracting young people to worship services and playing loud music at services.Azerbaijan's authorities have changed their accusations while Balaev has been held, initially claiming that he set a dog on police during a raid on a Sunday worship service. After more than 50 people signed a written statement testifying to Balev's innocence, the dog disappeared from the authorities' claims.
Instead, Balaev was then instead accused of attacking five policeman and damaging a police car door. The authorities' claims are strongly disputed. Prosecution witnesses admitted that they had not witnessed the alleged assault and, in fact, admitted that they had only heard about it from people at the market, teahouse, or because police pressured them into testifying.
For more on this matter and others of like injustice, see the updated reports from Forum 18.
