“We Want Freedom”

(Forum 18) – A Protestant Pastor has described what Christians want to Forum 18 News Service as “we want freedom – freedom in society, freedom of faith and freedom to worship, freedom from the state so that it no longer interferes.” One example of many incidents was a police raid in which the police halted a worship service, questioned all those present, and later tried to recruit the church leader as an informer. That congregation has been unable to meet for worship since. Police raids and harassment take place throughout Azerbaijan , with many believers involved being too frightened to speak out. As one pastor put it, “sometimes their own relatives don’t even know they’ve become Christians.” A pastor told Forum 18 that Baha’is and Jehovah’s Witnesses face the same pressure from the authorities as Christians, as do independent Muslim and Hare Krishna communities. The authorities have denied to Forum 18 that religious persecution happens in Azerbaijan .

http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=479