New Crackdown on Adventists

(Forum 18) – Adventist Pastor Khalid Babaev – forced by death threats out of Nakhichevan in February – was fined on 20 May in Sumgait , an industrial city near the capital Baku , for leading a congregation without registration. “They failed to register their place of worship,” the local police officer told Forum 18 News Service, though he was unable to say which law requires this. A week earlier, two Adventist pastors in Gyanja were fined for failing to register their place of residence in the city. “We don’t agree with these fines,” Adventist leader Pastor Yahya Zavrichko told Forum 18. “All we want is to be able to function freely.” Local officials are also seeking information about the Baku congregation in an apparent bid to step up pressure.