Jehovah's Witnesses Denied Recognition By Nagorno-Karabakh Court

Forum 18 reported yesterday that in Nagorno-Karabakh, the General Court of First Instance in Stepanakert has upheld the denial of registration under the country's Religion Law to Jehovah's Witnesses. The country's Department for Ethnic Minority and Religious Affairs refused the registration application because Jehovah's Witness charter allows proselytism. Under the Religion Law only the Armenian Apostolic Church may proselytize outside its own religious community. Unrecognized religious communities are banned from meeting together for religious activities, though so far authorities are not interfering with religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses. Nagorno-Karabakh is an internationally-unrecognized self-governing area of Azerbaijan.