Arresting Person for Praying with Others Violates European Convention on Human Rights

In Rafiyev v. Azerbaijan, (ECHR, July 8, 2025), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that it violates Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights to hold a person in violation of law for praying together with others. The court said in part:

1.  The case concerns the arrest and subsequent conviction of the applicant, a follower of the Nurism teachings of Islam, for the administrative offence of holding an unauthorised religious meeting on private premises....

6.  On 4 March 2017 the applicant went to Guba to attend a funeral ceremony. Afterwards, the applicant, together with others, visited their friend, T.A., at his private house. At around 1 p.m. several police officers raided the premises and took the applicant and twenty-one other individuals to the Guba District Police Office.

7.  ... An administrative-offence report ... stated that ... the applicant had violated the rules on holding religious meetings ... and that he had committed an administrative offence under Article 515.0.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences ("the CAO")....

59.  Moreover, as is clear from the meaning of Article 515.0.2 of the CAO, in order to fall under its scope, an administrative offence had to be committed by an individual who either established a religious organisation or operated one. Given that the applicant was not the owner of the private residence at which he was arrested and was merely in attendance there with his friends, it is unclear how he could have been regarded as having committed an administrative offence under Article 515.0.2 of the CAO....

60.  In any event, even assuming that the private residence where the applicant assembled with others was used as a place of religious worship as argued by the Government, the Court finds it necessary to reiterate that, while States can put in place a requirement that religious denominations be registered in a manner compatible with Articles 9 and 11 of the Convention, it does not follow that sanctioning an individual member of an unregistered religious organisation for praying or otherwise manifesting his or her religious belief is compatible with the Convention.... To accept the contrary would amount to the exclusion of minority religious beliefs which are not formally registered with the State, and consequently would amount to admitting that a State can dictate what a person can or cannot believe....

Law & Religion UK reports on the decision.

European Court: Azerbaijan's Ban on Foreign Educated Imams Violates European Convention

In Babayev v. Azerbaijan, (ECHR, Feb. 1, 2024), the European Court of Human Rights held that Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) is violated by Azerbaijan's law prohibiting citizens of the country who obtained their religious education abroad from conducting Islamic religious rites and rituals in Azerbaijan. In awarding petitioner, who had been sentenced to three years in prison for violating the law, damages of 6000 Euros, plus costs and expenses, the court said in part:

75.... The Court notes that there is no indication whatsoever that the Islamic religious rites and rituals that the applicant conducted contained any expressions or constituted any actions, such as, for example, seeking to spread, incite or justify hatred, discrimination or intolerance, or otherwise undermine the ideals and values of a democratic society....

76.... The Court is aware of the fundamental importance of secularism in Azerbaijani statehood and the respondent State’s attachment to religious tolerance. However, it cannot accept the Government’s argument that the applicant’s criminal conviction was necessary in a democratic society on account of the State’s fight against religious extremism and its protection of democratic values....

78.... [I]t is apparent that in so far as the restrictions did not regulate the content of the religious expression or the manner of its delivery, they were not fit to protect society from religious extremism or any other forms of intolerance...

European Court Finds That Azerbaijan Violated Rights of Jehovah's Witnesses

On February 20, 2020, the European Court of Human Right issued two chamber judgments finding violation of religious freedom rights by Azerbaijan. In Nasirov and Others v. Azerbaijan (application no. 58717/10), the court held that the detention of several Jehovah’s Witnesses for door to-door preaching and distribution of literature violated their rights to freedom of religion (Art. 9) and liberty of person (Art. 5) under the European Convention on Human Rights.

In Religious Community of Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Azerbaijan (no. 52884/09), the Court concluded that Azerbaijan's ban on the importation of specified religious books violated Jehovah's Witnesses freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights (Art. 10) considered in connection with their right to freedom of religion (Art. 9), saying in part:

Cases which involve prior restraint call for special scrutiny by the Court.

Azerbaijan had argued that the three titles in question contained disparaging remarks about the Christian and Jewish communities, contending:

[T]he books in question implied religious superiority and incited religious discord and could therefore damage the peaceful coexistence of several religious communities in a multireligious society...

The court concluded however that Azerbaijani courts "did not carry out careful balancing exercise in conformity with the criteria laid down in its case-law and did not provide “relevant and sufficient” reasons for the interference."

European Court Says Azerbaijan Must Exempt Jehovah's Witnesses From Military

As reported by Courthouse News Service:

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that Jehovah’s Witnesses in Azerbaijan cannot be forced to serve in the military.

“Freedom of thought, conscience and religion [is] one of the cornerstones of a ‘democratic society’ within the meaning of the” European Convention on Human Rights, the court said in a press release announcing the decision.

Here is the full text of the decision in French in In re Mammadov v. Azerbaijan, (ECHR, Oct. 17, 2019).

Azerbaijan and Jewish Groups Will Hold (Competing?) Hanukkah Party At Trump's Hotel

For a number of years, the White House has hosted an annual Hanukkah party.  Yesterday's Jerusalem Post reports that this year there will apparently be competition to President Obama's scheduled Dec. 14 event.  The nation of Azerbaijan, which has developed increasing ties with Israel, has booked space for Dec. 14 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House for a Hanukkah Party that will be co-hosted by the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. Invitations for Azerbaijan's party say it will celebrate freedom and diversity. It is not clear from press reports whether the times of the two Hanukkah parties overlap. The Conference of Presidents is made up of over 50 Jewish organizations and represents the organized Jewish community to the Executive Branch.